Shuffle Fantasy
by ExoZadakh
Summary: The characters of Shuffle! and the world of Final Fantasy.  The Shuffle heroines are chosen by destiny to save their world, but their quest will be filled with dangers, unexpected foes, and things they've never dreamed could be possible.
1. Chapter 1

(Disclaimer: I do not own Shuffle, Final Fantasy, or anything at all. This story was made purely for entertainment purposes. For Final Fantasy reference, .com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Wiki should help, and for Shuffle reference, .org/wiki/Shuffle_(disambiguation) is the best I can do. I would send you right to the page, but it has a ! that doesn't get added onto the link...)

**Shuffle Fantasy**

Chapter 1

She looked over her shoulder, seeing the enemies still chasing, so she continued to run and looked at her companion. "Sakura, I don't think we can lose them," she said. "What will we do?"  
The other girl sighed and stopped running, spinning to face her enemies and unloading her crossbow as she said, "Just get out of here—I'll be right behind you!"  
"What?" she said. "I can't leave you here!"  
"Go!" Sakura shouted, pushing the girl away. The girl paused a moment longer, and then she turned and kept running.

***

Kaede woke with a start. She sat up in bed, breathing heavily, and she thought, _A dream…when will that day stop haunting me?  
_She stood up, put her robe on, and walked out onto the balcony, staring out at the starlit scenery of Verbena village. Kaede had lived in the village all her life, most of it alone—her parent had died when she was young, so she had moved in with her friend Sakura, a Summoner who handled bows like a Ranger. It wasn't long until Sakura and her family vanished, however, so Kaede had learned to take care of herself and lived on her own. She yawned and brushed her hair back, going over her plans for the next day, and then walked back inside and sat down.  
_I won't have enough energy if I don't get back to sleep soon,_ she thought. _There's no use dwelling on the past…I need to clear my head._

Asa slapped Kaede on the back and said, "Hello, Kaede-chan! What're you up to, same as always?"  
"Oh, Asa-sempai," Kaede said. "Yes, I was just doing some training. What brings you here?"  
"Kareha had to go take care of her sister, so I need something to do," Asa said, tossing her gaze into the sky. "I wandered over here and, what luck, I ran into you! Mind if I bug you for a bit?"  
"No, I would be honored to have your company!" Kaede replied. "If I may ask, how is your training going? Mayumi said you were working on a Silence Spellblade."  
"Yep, yep, just about got it down," Asa said, nodding. "I gotta tell you, I'm really loving this Mystic Knight deal. You learn any new Ninja techniques?"  
"I thought I should perfect my throwing skills before moving on," Kaede said. "I'm still not so accurate when throwing large swords—about 40%. I wonder…would you be up for a sparring match?"  
Asa drew her saber and said, "Sounds like fun, but I won't be taking it easy on you."  
Kaede took out two knives and stepped back, but she sensed someone behind her and flipped out of the way, letting the attacker charge forth until Asa stopped her with a shield. "You really should wait your turn, Mayumi," Asa said.  
Mayumi sidestepped to avoid a shuriken and said, "Just wanted to make sure you knew I was here. Mayumi Thyme isn't one to miss a chance to spar!"  
Kaede stabbed at Mayumi from behind and Mayumi immediately countered with a powerful punch, meanwhile Asa created a Fire Spellblade and charged, so Mayumi jumped out of the way and landed heavily. "Has anyone ever told you that you wear a lot of armor for a Monk?" Asa said, quickly turning to block Kaede's first blow only to fall prey to the second.  
Mayumi rushed out and kicked both of her opponents before replying, "It makes me unique—a rare breed."  
Asa slashed at Kaede and then cast Thunder on Mayumi, and Kaede pulled out a Water Scroll and washed them away with a torrent of water. Mayumi focused on Kaede as she dashed up, meeting Asa's Spellblade, and then used two punches to send them both reeling. Kaede rolled when she hit the ground and threw some shuriken, and then she dodged some incoming attacks and threw her knives, each burying itself in the armor of her opponents. Asa slashed Kaede with her Spellblade, a blow Kaede purposefully took in order to pull her knife back out, and then Mayumi attempted her kicking technique again but was foiled by the Spellblade as well. Kaede swooped down on Mayumi to retrieve her second knife and then leaped up and pulled out a Blizzard Scroll, but before she could use the item she was suddenly overcome by great fatigue, and she crashed down and passed out.  
Asa shook her head as Mayumi fainted too, and then turned to see Kareha and said, "Oh, I see."  
"Huh, seems my Sleep spell missed you again," Kareha said. "Guess I still need to work on my Black Magic…"  
"What're you doing here? I thought you needed to check on Tsubomi?" Asa asked, deactivating her Spellblade.  
"It was a false alarm, so I thought I'd better come find you before you get into trouble," Kareha said, taking out a few Potions as the others began to stir. "It looks like I got here just in time; you three weren't holding back."  
Kaede took a Potion and said, "Thank you…I suppose I got a little carried away. My apologies."  
"Man, just when things were getting fun," Mayumi grumbled as she took a Potion. "Oh well. What now?"  
"I dunno, nothing really exciting ever goes on here," Asa said. "Biggest news I've heard is that they uncovered something weird in the construction site for that new warehouse or whatever."  
"Yeah, they said it was some kind of crystal?" Kareha said. "Let's go check it out! What do you say?"  
"Kareha, you're easily amused," Asa sighed. "Well, I suppose I don't have anything else to do…"  
"I may as well tag along too," Mayumi said. "What about you, Kaede?"  
"Um…I was actually thinking I would get some shopping done…" Kaede replied.  
"Aw come on, the more the merrier!" Asa said. "You can always get your shopping done later."  
"Well…alright," Kaede said. "I'll come with you, then."

It was a short walk to the construction site, which turned out to be surrounded by a small crowd, but the girls were still able to spot the subject of the attention: a mid-sized, glowing, yellow-brown crystal, held by a construction worker who was conversing with a Red Mage. "My my, is that Rin Tsuchimi, the famed 'Champion of Verbena'?" Kareha remarked, a sparkle entering her eye. "This crystal must be very special…"  
"I don't see what's so great about him," Mayumi said. "He's a Red Mage—can't master any specific skill so combines a few half-developed ones. It's not that he's strong, our enemies are just weak."  
"You never know," Asa said. "Popular opinion seems to be that he's pretty strong."  
Kaede stared blankly at Rin and the crystal, not saying a word until Mayumi grabbed her shoulder and asked, "Kaede-chan? You alright?"  
Snapping out of her trance, Kaede said, "What? Oh, I'm sorry, I just…"  
"She seems pretty focused on Rin," Asa teased, causing Kareha to stare off and daydream.  
Rin put his hat back on his head and took the crystal from the construction worker, saying, "Thanks, we'll be sure to compensate you for this. If it's not too much trouble, do you think you could seal off the chamber? At least until we're done studying this?"  
The worker blinked and said, "Erm…yeah, I guess so…"  
"Thank you," Rin said, and then he made his way through the crowd and ended up near Kaede and the others. "Oh, excuse me. I need to get this back to town hall."  
"That crystal seems pretty important," Asa said. "What exactly is it?"  
"That's what we intend to find out," Rin replied, looking at the crystal. "It's giving off an enormous amount of magical energy though…anyway, I don't want to keep the elders waiting, so if you don't mind I need to be on my way."  
He walked off and Kareha murmured, "That's a very odd kind of magical energy…I've never felt anything like it. What do you think it could be?"  
"Ah, who cares," Mayumi said. "C'mon, let's find something else to do."  
The group turned to leave when Kaede noticed a cloaked figure moving in the same direction Rin had gone, and before she realized what she was doing she said, "Ah…I just remembered, I have something urgent to take care of. Please excuse me."  
She separated from the others and followed the figure, thinking, _What is this feeling? Something seems odd about this person…  
_Staying out of sight she followed the cloaked figure to the town hall, where it peeked through the window and turned around. Hiding in a nearby bush, Kaede got a good look at the figure's face: a human-like female with red eyes, blue hair, and very long pointed ears.  
_A demon,_ Kaede thought. _That explains the strange air around her. Still, not very many demons come through here—I wonder what she wants?  
_The demon girl just stood there for a long time doing nothing, and just as Kaede was about to leave Rin walked out and the demon walked up to him. "Um…pardon me," she said, "but…that crystal that you were carrying…where is it?"  
"The elders are studying it in the library chamber," Rin answered. "Why do you ask?"  
The demon paused a minute before answering, "Please…that crystal is very important. I must be allowed to see it."  
"Sorry, but I was instructed not to let anyone in," Rin said.  
"But I can explain what that crystal is!" the demon returned. "That's what they're trying to find out, isn't it?"  
Rin thought things over and eventually responded, "Well…alright, I guess I can take you to see the elders."  
He led the girl into the building, Kaede slipping in unnoticed, and walked down a set of stairs to a large room lined with bookshelves, the elders examining the crystal at a table in the center. Their entrance earned the attention of one of the elders, who said, "Rin? I thought we told you not to let anyone in here?"  
"This girl claims to know something about this crystal," Rin replied. "I thought we might as well hear her out."  
One of the elders said, "…Very well then. What is your name, girl, and what do you know?"  
The demon girl took off her cloak to reveal Sage robes decorated with plates of armor, and instead of the hat customary of magic-users she wore a silvery helm emblazoned with a family crest. "Forgive me for not being more direct in my arrival, but this is a sensitive matter," she said. "I am Nerine, princess of demons, sent here to inform you of the importance of that crystal."  
_The princess of demons?!_ Kaede thought as everyone else in the chamber bowed—Kaede would have bowed as well, but she was hiding in the shadows and didn't want to startle anyone.  
"My apologies, princess, we had no idea," an elder said.  
"That's quite alright," Nerine said. "But on to the reason I came: as I'm sure you've realized, that is no ordinary mineral you have there. It's an Elemental Crystal, the Crystal of Earth, and if it is not well-protected—"  
She was cut off as an explosion rocked the building, and Rin shouted, "What's going on? Are we under attack?"  
He and the elders rushed upstairs, Nerine staying behind to look at the crystal, and Kaede carefully moved towards the exit. "Hold," Nerine said, Kaede suddenly becoming paralyzed. "I know that this is your home, so I've said nothing thus far. Before you go out there, I feel I should tell you something about these crystals."  
"But…why?" Kaede asked.  
"Because," Nerine replied, "I can sense in you the essence of Earth…you have been chosen."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Asa ran to find cover from the assault, dodging shells and then diving underneath a piece of rubble. She looked up at the airship overhead and muttered, "This is just great…"  
It was then that the airship ceased its attack and opened its doors, and dozens of soldiers dropped down and began to spread out across the village. Mayumi jumped out and struck one down, shouting, "I don't know who you are, but prepare to have your ass kicked!"  
Asa created a Thunder Spellblade and ran out from her hiding place, cutting down several soldiers, and then grabbed one by the throat and asked, "What are you doing here? What do you want?"  
The soldier grabbed his gun and tried to attack, but Kareha froze him with a Blizzard and said, "I don't think they'll answer our questions."  
"Yeah, guess not," Asa said, cutting a soldier who was coming up behind her. "I'm going to go find Kaede—think you and Mayumi can handle things here?"  
Several battered soldiers flew across the field, and Mayumi said, "What do you think?"  
"Oh yeah, forgot who I was talking to," Asa chuckled. She ran towards town hall, slashing a few more soldiers on her way, and Mayumi and Kareha continued their counterattack.

"Chosen?" Kaede repeated. "What do you mean?"  
"The Elemental Crystals will sometimes choose humans to give their power to," Nerine explained, releasing her Hold spell and turning back to the Crystal of Earth. "If you can prove yourself you will be granted the power of Earth, one of the five primary elements…you are very lucky."  
"How do I do that?" Kaede asked.  
"…I'm not sure," Nerine admitted. "There are several things about the crystals that I don't know, but what is certain is that you must find a way. When I heard that a crystal had been discovered I had to come and protect it…crystals are disappearing everywhere, and I feared this one would be next."  
At that moment Rin came crashing into the room, and behind him walked a heavily armored man who eyed the crystal greedily. "So it's Earth this time," he said. "How wonderful…"  
Kaede helped Rin up as Nerine asked, "Are you the one who's been stealing crystals?"  
"So quick to accuse," the man replied. "But, you are right: I am General Vitirus of the Yggdrasil army, and I have been assigned to oversee all operations involving the Elemental Crystals."  
Rin cast Cura on himself and unsheathed his sword, saying, "I don't know why you want this crystal so badly, but I'm not going to let you take it!"  
Vitirus clapped his hands together and sent out a powerful shockwave, but Nerine cast Protect and pulled out a wooden staff. "What does Yggdrasil want with the crystals?" the princess asked, casting Thundara on Vitirus.  
"What's Yggdrasil?" Kaede wondered aloud.  
"It's a small kingdom on a continent North of here," Rin said. "I never would have expected them to take such hostile action…"  
Vitirus dodged a Blizzara and knocked Nerine aside, moving towards the crystal, but Rin leapt out and swung his sword, striking a solid blow but not doing much against his foe's armor. "Your sword cannot harm me," Vitirus said, preparing to punch when he felt a sharp pain in his back.  
"What about my knives?" Kaede asked, pulling her weapons out from a gap in the general's armor and retreating before he countered.  
Rin gathered his energy and cast Firaga on Vitirus, using up a large amount of power in the process, and then Kaede threw several shuriken before Vitirus punched the ground, making them lose their balance. Vitirus grabbed Rin and smashed him into the wall, again making a break for the crystal but being stopped as Nerine cast Hold. Kaede saw an opportunity and threw a Fuma Shuriken, but Vitirus then blazed with energy and broke free of the spell, quickly spinning and blasting everyone with energy bolts.  
"Stay down," he advised, grabbing the Crystal of Earth. "I'll just take this and be on my way." Suddenly the crystal faded away, and Vitirus grumbled, "Damn, I guess the original chamber is still nearby…"  
He turned around and was cut by a Silence Spellblade, causing his energy aura to disappear, and before he could recover Asa dealt a blow to his head to further stun him. "Asa-sempai!" Kaede said.  
"Looks like I'm just in time," Asa said. "Has the big guy been more talkative than his lackeys?"  
Vitirus scoffed and jumped up, punching a hole through the roof of the chamber and making debris fall on everyone. "I don't have time to deal with you," he said, jumping up and out of the building.  
"Stop!" Rin yelled, following Vitirus out.  
Nerine healed herself, Kaede, and Asa before saying, "We've got to stop him before he takes the Crystal of Earth back to his airship. If they destroy it, then the earth will begin to decay."  
"Guess I missed some exposition, huh?" Asa said.  
Not waiting for an answer she exited the building as well, soon followed by the others, but before they got far a strange portal appeared in front of them. The gateway spat out an armored girl holding a large hammer and then vanished in an instant, and the girl said, "Ow…I really should practice that."  
"Sia?" Nerine asked.  
The girl turned and said, "…Rina? You came too?"  
"Yes, but what are you doing here?" Nerine asked.  
"We heard a crystal was uncovered here, so I came to get a look at it," Sia said.  
"Well…you're a little late," Nerine said.  
Sia looked around at the battle, paused, and shouted, "Dang it, this is why I said we should send forces immediately!"  
"Who exactly is this?" Asa asked.  
"Lisianthus, princes of the gods," Nerine answered. "We mainly just call her Sia, though…"  
"Alright, where is it?" Sia asked, her hammer ready. "Is the crystal still here?"  
"It teleported back to its original chamber, on the far side of the village," Nerine said. "If you're coming with us then we have to hurry!"  
Sia nodded and joined the party as they ran down the street, taking out any soldiers that got in their way and eventually coming up to the construction site. A large hole had been blasted into the ground, and Kaede went first to see what was going on. Rin was dueling Vitirus in front of a large circle of light, above which floated the crystal, and Kaede threw a shuriken to distract Vitirus long enough for Rin to cast Blizzard.  
"I've had enough of your meddling," Vitirus said, blasting them both with energy bolts.  
Sia then jumped into the chamber and smashed Vitirus into the wall with her hammer, saying, "Get away from the crystal!"  
Asa and Nerine were in the chamber now, but before they could do anything the tunnel suddenly darkened and a strange voice filled the air: **"You're having some trouble. Shall I send more forces?"  
**"No, I can do this myself!" Vitirus replied. "I just need a little more time."  
**"Fine,"** the voice said. **"But allow me to remove one obstacle for you."  
**A sphere of dark energy suddenly appeared and swallowed Rin, and as the light returned to normal Kaede said, "Rin? What…"  
"What just happened?" Asa asked.  
"I guess Her Majesty has use for him," Vitirus said, shrugging. "Odds are you won't be seeing him again anytime soon."  
Kaede stood still, murmuring, "…Just like that…in an instant, he completely disappeared…"  
Vitirus used another shockwave to blast the girls back and said, "No more holding back. If you insist on protecting the crystal then I'll just have to destroy you!"  
Kaede sighed, "All of this just for being in the wrong place…"  
"Kaede, on your guard!" Asa shouted. Sia smashed Vitirus with her hammer and stepped away to let Nerine use Fira, and then Asa created a Blizzard Spellblade and braced herself as Vitirus punched her. Kaede shook her head, narrowed her eyes, and pulled out a short sword, hurling it with enough velocity to tear through Vitirus' armor, and while the general was reeling Sia delivered another powerful strike.  
"This just isn't right," Kaede said as Nerine cast Protera on the party. "You're doing horrible things and don't even care…after all these years, I'm going to put my training to use. This time I'm not going to abandon my friends!"  
Asa quickly slashed Vitirus, who then punched Nerine back, and then Kaede rushed up and drove her knives into his armor, striking a critical point and angering the general. "Grr…I'll kill you all!" Vitirus shouted, his energy aura growing.  
He blasted the whole party with energy bolts and dodged Sia's hammer, and after Nerine cast Cura on them he blocked Asa's Spellblade and a shuriken. The crystal started to glow as he used another volley of energy bolts, and Sia said, "Ah, this is crazy!"  
She went into a fury, swinging her hammer violently at Vitirus and doing a bit of damage and then Nerine cast Silence but missed. "That spell can't stop me now," he said, shooting more bolts. Asa managed to get in a hit this time, if only a weak one, and Kaede was about to attack when suddenly the crystal gave off a bright pulse of light, and a voice rang out through the chamber.  
_"You have proven yourself worthy. Take my power, and the very ground you walk on shall be your most powerful weapon."  
_After another few flashes the Crystal of Earth transformed into a necklace bearing a much smaller gem, and then it floated over to Kaede and placed itself around her neck. "What the…what did you do to the crystal?!" Vitirus roared. He charged forward, ready to strike, but Kaede raised her arm and a wall of earth rose in his path, stopping him in an instant.  
"She did it!" Nerine said. "Kaede gained the power of earth!"  
Vitirus stumbled back, dazed, and Asa said, "Now's our chance! Let's take him down!"  
Sia used her hammer to drive him into the ground, and Nerine followed with Thundara just before Asa slashed with her Spellblade. Kaede raised one hand into the air, made a fist, and said, "This is more like it." She brought down her fist and an enormous slab of rock came down from the ceiling right on top of Vitirus, crushing him into the dirt and disabling him.  
"Yay, we won!" Sia shouted, jumping up and down a few times.  
Asa sighed and deactivated her Spellblade, and then turned to Kaede and said, "Earth powers, huh? That's pretty amazing."  
"Thank you, but I can't really take the credit," Kaede said, turning to her crystal necklace.  
"Urgh…lost to a bunch of girls," Vitirus grumbled. "I can't believe it…"  
The tunnel darkened once more and the voice returned, saying, **"You have failed, Vitirus. Not only did you not retrieve the Crystal of Earth, but now it has found a host."  
**"You, voice!" Kaede said. "Who are you and what have you done with Rin?"  
**"Your friend is safe,"** the voice replied. **"As for who I am, that is not something you need to know. Come, Vitirus—I'm recalling the forces."  
**Another dark sphere appeared to swallow Vitirus, and when the light returned to normal Sia asked, "So…what now?"

Back at town hall Nerine assisted in healing the wounded, and the other girls sat still until the elders approached. "Princess Nerine, Princess Sia, we wish to thank you for aiding us in this battle," an elder said. "Thankfully nobody was killed, and we should be able to rebuild the village. May we ask what became of the crystal?"  
Kaede held up her necklace and said, "Right here. The crystal chose me to wield its power, which is how we were able to stop Vitirus. But Rin…"  
"Don't worry about Rin—that voice said he was fine," Asa said. "…Though it would be nice to know what that thing was…"  
"The Void," Nerine said. "One of the five primary elements, an empty realm of nothingness…when Vitirus referred to 'Her Majesty' he must have meant that voice. That would mean that the Queen of Yggdrasil was chosen by the Crystal of Void…"  
A brief silence followed this statement, broken when Kaede said, "Then Rin might be somewhere in Yggdrasil?"  
"Yes, it is a possibility," Nerine said. "But as we are now we wouldn't do much good by storming the castle—the Void can be extremely tricky to deal with, and quite powerful. According to legend the Void and its wielder will attempt to consume the land, ending all existence, and it can only be stopped by the other primary elements—Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water—working together. Even if we knew where to find the Fire, Wind, and Water crystals, we would still have to find their chosen bearers…"  
"So what?" was Sia's response. "If that's what we have to do, then let's do it! We can't give up just because it's difficult!"  
"I agree; this seems too important for us to be lazy," Asa said.  
Kaede was about to say something when the Crystal of Earth suddenly shone brightly, and then she began to speak in words that were not her own:  
_"The chosen, the Warriors of Light, are gathered here…Nerine, Lisianthus, Asa Shigure, Kaede Fuyou, you four are the destined bearers of the primary crystals. You must gather your elements if you are to defeat the Void, but even that will only be the beginning…the Crystal of Fire is found near Vesuverest…"  
_The light faded away and Kaede slumped against the wall, murmuring, "Ooh…what happened…?"  
"...It would seem that the Crystal of Earth spoke through you," an elder said. "Remarkable…after we rebuild we must do more research on these crystals."  
"Vesuverest, huh?" Asa said. "That's not too far from here, a few days at best."  
"Why are we going to Vesuverest?" Kaede asked.  
"For the Crystal of Fire," Sia said. "So come on, let's get going!"  
"We should probably rest up first," Nerine said. "Besides, we can't leave this village unprotected."  
"I'm sure that Mayumi and Kareha can handle things around here," Asa said. "A good rest does sound smart, so let's leave first thing in the morning. Deal?"  
"Deal!" Sia replied. "I'm looking forward to this adventure!"  
"How can I refuse?" Nerine said. "This is an important mission."  
"…Alright," Kaede said. "I'll do my best!"

_And so the Warriors of Light set out on their quest to gather the crystals and defeat the Void. But as they had been warned, finding the crystals would only be one small part of their great journey…_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Well this is going wonderfully," Asa sighed. "I'm beginning to think we were given wrong directions." The party had reached Vesuverest after just three days of travel, quite good considering the less-than-friendly wildlife, but nobody in the village seemed to know anything about the Crystal of Fire.  
"The crystals do tend to hide their chambers to protect themselves," Nerine said. "We knew this wouldn't be easy…"  
"Still, you'd think we could sense it or something," Sia complained. "We have no idea where to look…"  
"Um…perhaps we should take a break?" Kaede suggested. "We could get some new armor and weapons and take another look around town…"  
"Yes, let's do that," Nerine said. "Sometimes the best way to find something is by not looking for it."  
"…That doesn't make any sense," Sia said. "But I heard 'new weapons', so I'm in." The girls exchanged a few more remarks as they continued down the street, not noticing the figure following them.

Kaede sighed and slipped down into the water, thinking, _This is so relaxing…  
_Vesuverest was almost completely surrounded by mountains which would usually deter any tourism, but people still came to the town in order to enjoy their famous hot springs, a luxury the Warriors of Light thought they may as well exploit. After getting new equipment and taking one last look around, they found an Inn and bought some rooms for the night, planning to get a fresh start in the morning, and then headed out to enjoy the springs.  
"Enjoying yourself?" Asa asked.  
"Yes, this place is quite nice," Kaede said. "I think I might like to come back here sometime."  
Asa nodded, paused, and said, "What you said in the crystal chamber, back at Verbena…you still feel guilty about what happened to Sakura, don't you?"  
"…Yes," Kaede said.  
"Kaede, there was nothing any of us could do," Asa said. "You can't blame yourself."  
Kaede said, "Maybe we couldn't do anything then…but now we're stronger. Sakura could still be out there, and once we've found all the crystals—"  
"Kaede," Asa interrupted. "Sometimes…you just have to accept things."  
Before the discussion could continue, Sia came up and said, "Here you are! Come on, Rina says she's found something!"  
Asa and Kaede followed Sia across the spring to where Nerine stood, and Asa asked, "What is it?"  
"Well, I was thinking about where the Crystal of Fire could be, and I got an idea," Nerine said. "I cast Sight and found a series of tunnels running underneath these hot springs…they're filled with magical energy."  
"You mean the hot springs are heated by the Crystal of Fire?" Sia asked. "Now I get what you said about finding things without looking for them…"  
"But how do we get into the tunnels?" Kaede asked.  
"We'll have to find an entrance somewhere," Nerine replied. "Let's go get our weapons and armor."  
They turned to leave when they noticed someone hiding in the steam nearby, and Sia shouted, "Hey, who's there?"  
The figure dashed towards the wall of the hot springs, but Kaede used her Earth powers to make a rock jut out and knock them back. The others went to get their weapons while Kaede stayed to keep the intruder from leaving, and she asked, "Are you an agent of Yggdrasil?"  
"Yggdrasil?" the intruder repeated, the voice obviously belonging to a boy. "What makes you say that?"  
The rest of the girls had returned by now, and as Kaede took her knives she asked, "If you aren't with Yggdrasil then why are you here?"  
The boy stood up and the party got a good look at him for the first time: he wore glasses and dark armor, with a spear in one hand and spiky hair poking out from under his helm, and he said, "If you must know, I am Itsuki Midoriba, the Peeping Dragoon of Vesuverest! Jumping over walls like these is child's play for me, and I can't resist lovely ladies such as yourselves."  
"…Now that's just weird," Asa said. "I think all that jumping may have rattled your brain. Girls don't like being spied on."  
Itsuki adjusted his glasses and said, "It's a compliment. But you ladies are sharp—this is the first time I've been caught. And those powers…you have a crystal, don't you?"  
"You know about the crystals?" Sia asked.  
"Sure do," Itsuki said. "In fact, I can lead you to the Crystal of Fire; you could say I'm its guardian, though it refuses to give me its power."  
"That would be most generous of you," Kaede said. "We really need that crystal."  
"Wait a minute," Asa said. "What's the catch?"  
"Hmhm," Itsuki chuckled. "Not just anyone can see the crystal…you must do one of two things before I'll show you the way. Your first option is for one or all of you to go on a date with me."  
After a period of dead silence, Nerine asked, "What's the other option?"  
"…The other option is to defeat me in battle," Itsuki sighed. "But I should warn you, my combat skills are unmatched in all of Vesuverest. For your own sake, you may wish to go with the first—"  
"We'll take the second option, thanks," Asa interrupted, creating a Blizzard Spellblade.  
"…Fine," Itsuki sighed. He used Jump to dodge Sia's hammer and then crashed down on Kaede, who stumbled back and held her arm.  
"He's using a Flame Lance," she muttered.  
Nerine cast Cura on her while Asa slashed Itsuki with her Spellblade, and then Kaede called an Earthquake but her foe used Jump again, this time hitting Nerine. Itsuki was battered by a barrage of blows from Sia and then blocked Asa's sword, saying, "It's not too late to change your decision, you know. I think we'd all enjoy option 1 a bit more."  
"Yeah…no," Asa said, jumping back as Nerine cast Thundara on the Dragoon. Kaede threw shuriken at Itsuki and then dodged his counterattack, and Sia began to charge energy. Nerine cast Protera right before Itsuki used Jump again, and Asa lashed out with a critical hit that weakened him before Sia smashed her hammer on top of him, creating a splash of energy that tore away at the ground.  
"Are you done yet?" Sia asked.  
"Not…just yet," Itsuki replied. Kaede leaped in to attack with her knives, but Itsuki hit her with his spear, now glowing, and she felt her strength drain away.  
"That's Lance…it absorbs the target's health and magical power, sending it back to the user," Nerine identified.  
"I told you my combat skills are unmatched," Itsuki said.  
"Big deal," Asa said, changing her Spellblade to Sleep. "Come on, let's just do more damage than he can heal. How hard can it be?"  
"Um…shouldn't we be a little more strategic?" Nerine asked.  
"Nah, it's more fun this way," Sia said, tossing her hammer like a boomerang.  
Itsuki dodged and used Lance on Nerine, who healed herself in response, but then the hammer came back and hit him from behind, making him drop his guard as Asa slashed at him. The Spellblade didn't take full effect, but he did begin to feel a bit groggy as Kaede willed a line of rocks to smash into him, and when he tried using Lance again he missed. Sia jumped up and swung her hammer, driving Itsuki into the ground, and Asa asked, "Now are you done?"

Once Itsuki had recovered and the girls put their armor back on, the Dragoon had led them to a cave in the mountain on the far side of the springs blocked by a line of stalagmites. Itsuki used Lance on the rocks and they receded, and then he said, "I should warn you, the heat is very intense beyond this point. Maybe you—"  
"Just stop right there," Asa said.  
Nerine closed her eyes and held her staff out, a steady stream of cold flowing from it and circling the part, and Sia commented, "That should work. Shall we?"  
As they advanced into the tunnel, Kaede asked, "Are there any other guardians between here and the crystal?"  
"I wouldn't say 'guardians', but there are a few obstacles," Itsuki said. "For example, there's that."  
Two fireballs could be seen flying out of the darkness, suddenly stopping and gaining faces, and Asa said, "Bombs…should've known."  
Sia smashed one of the Bombs with her hammer, making it dissipate instantly, and said, "They're not that tough. What's there to worry about?"  
The other Bomb started to grow, so Asa quickly slashed at it and Kaede finished it off. "In small numbers, they're not so bad," Itsuki said. "But the crystal is going to throw more and more of them at us, and eventually we won't be able to defeat them all before they self-destruct…and these Bombs can set off chain reactions."  
"Then we'd better get moving," Asa said. "Nerine's magic will run out eventually, plus we want to get out before the Bombs get bad." They continued forth in silence for a time, Nerine keeping the air around them cool and Kaede throwing a few nervous glances at Itsuki.  
_We're letting a peeping Dragoon lead us into a burning tunnel,_ she thought. _I hope this is the true path to the Crystal of Fire, because there are so many ways this could go wrong…  
_Sia was getting a little uncomfortable with the silence, so she spoke up, "How long have you been a guardian for the crystal, Itsuki?"  
"About four or five years ago I found the entrance to this tunnel by accident," Itsuki said. "It wasn't easy but I made it down to the crystal, and it explained how it was an Elemental Crystal and needed a guardian and etc, etc, something about the 'Warriors of Light' needing a guide…but still, didn't give me any fire powers." He paused a bit before adding, "Are you the Warriors of Light?"  
"You probably should have asked that before taking us down here," Asa noted.  
Itsuki shrugged and said, "I figured if you weren't then the crystal would destroy you. Incoming."  
Four Bombs approached the party, so Kaede used a Water Scroll to destroy them and clear the way. "Are they going to get stronger and more numerous, or just more numerous?" Asa asked.  
"If you really are the Warriors of Light, probably both," Itsuki answered. "The crystal can sense its bearer and will be sure to test her. Which one of you is the Bearer of Fire?"  
"We don't know," Sia said. "The Crystal of Earth didn't specify which of us would get which element, it just said we were the Warriors of Light and told us to come here."  
"I see," Itsuki said.  
Nerine stumbled a bit but caught herself, and Kaede asked, "Are you alright?"  
"Yes," Nerine sighed, "this just requires a lot of focus…"  
"How much farther to the crystal?" Asa asked.  
"There's a warp up ahead that'll take us down to the bottom level," Itsuki replied. "From there it's a fairly short walk to the crystal chamber, so there shouldn't be too many more of these Bombs."  
This time eight Bombs flew at the party, and Asa created a Blizzara Spellblade while Sia smashed one against the wall. Kaede took out one Bomb with a shuriken and watched Itsuki use Jump on another, but one of the remaining Bombs cast Fira and singed the whole group. Asa cut it down and turned to Nerine, who seemed to be alright, and Sia took out another and said, "These things are a pest. What did you say they would do earlier…self-destruct?"  
One of the Bombs then exploded, emitting a huge shockwave that caused the others to blow up as well, adding to the force of the blast and shaking the tunnel. Asa got back on her feet and held her head, moaning, "Ugh…stupid Bombs…"  
Itsuki handed out some Hi-Potions and said, "Like I said: chain reaction. We'd better get moving before even more come."  
Using her staff for support, Nerine said, "I can't keep us cool much longer…unless we find an Ether or something…"  
"Just hold on—we can rest soon," Itsuki said, leading the group around a corner and towards a pillar of light. "This is the warp. Once we get to the bottom floor we'll have to cross a river of lava, but it's not too bad."  
The girls followed him into the warp and soon found themselves in a new tunnel, this one mostly barren but glowing bright red from the enormous sheet of lava flowing nearby. "…Not too bad, huh?" Asa murmured.  
"It's bigger than I remember," Itsuki said. "It must be a test for you four…any ideas?"  
"I may be able to create an Earth platform," Kaede suggested. "But with this intense heat it probably won't last long…"  
"Hm…I got it!" Sia said. "Kae-chan, can you make a platform big enough for you, Asa, and Rina and keep it intact for a few seconds?"  
"Um…alright," Kaede said. She made a small slab of earth as requested, and she climbed onto it along with Asa and Nerine.  
Sia pulled back her hammer and said, "Hold on!" By the time they figured out Sia's plan it was too late, for the girl swung her weapon and sent the platform speeding across the lava, with molten rock spewing up from the edges and jumping even higher when the 'vehicle' hit the other shore, spilled its passengers to safety, and sunk.  
Itsuki gave Sia a somewhat frightened glance, and Asa called back, "Way to go, Sia! That was awesome!"  
Kaede helped Nerine to her feet and Sia said, "Okay, now for us. You can Jump us across, right?"  
"…I'm flattered you trust me to do that, but I don't have much practice with carrying people," Itsuki replied. "It would probably be wise to come up with something else."  
"We don't have time for that," Sia argued. "Rina's about to pass out, we don't know when more Bombs are coming, and…was there a third one…?"  
Itsuki sighed, "Alright…but for the record I think this is a bad idea."  
He put an arm around Sia's midsection and prepared himself for a few seconds, and then propelled the both of them through the air towards the opposite shore. "…They won't make it," Nerine mumbled. "Kaede, you need to make a stepping stone."  
"But…where?" Kaede asked. "I'm not good with timing—"  
"Focus, Kaede!" Asa shouted. "Don't over think it, just trust your instincts!"  
Itsuki was nearing the shore but realized her was falling too short, so he grimaced and said, "Damn…brace yourself!"  
He threw Sia with enough force that she cleared the lava and rolled across the ground, and as he came closer to the lava he noticed a slab of rock appear. He landed just on the edge of the rock, grinned, and sprang up again, this time with enough altitude to land safely on the other side.  
"Nice teamwork!" Asa proclaimed, driving a 'thumbs-up' into the air.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Itsuki picked up his spear and said, "Ahem…thanks for the save."  
"It's the least I could do," Kaede said. "It was very nice of you to take us to the crystal—we couldn't just let you die."  
"Guys, get ready," Asa said, reactivating a Blizzara Spellblade. Two Bombs floated up to the group, but rather than the standard orange coloring these ones were green.  
"Balloons…stronger than Bombs by a good measure," Itsuki said. "You really must be the Warriors of Light."  
Sia smashed one with her hammer and said, "We've got to hurry, for Rina's sake. I just hope we can get to the crystal soon."  
"Actually, there's a 'safe zone' just up ahead," Itsuki said as he used Jump. "She can regain her power there, once we defeat these Balloons."  
Asa and Kaede combined their efforts and took out one of the enemies, but the remaining Balloon cast Fira on the group and started to grow. Nerine knelt low to the ground and focused while Sia and Itsuki attacked, and Asa said, "Hold on, Nerine—we're almost done."  
Kaede stabbed the Balloon and it flew straight towards Nerine, but Asa jumped in front of it and swung her Spellblade, vanquishing the creature and clearing the path ahead. "Come on," Asa said, helping Nerine up and supporting her as they moved forward.  
It wasn't long before they came upon a large, circular design glowing brightly on the ground, and Itsuki said, "Here we are: a safe zone. The temperature's normal, enemies won't attack, and you can even use a tent and save your game."  
As soon as they entered the circle and felt the cooler air, Nerine put down her staff and gave a large sigh. "I'll put up a tent so we can rest," Kaede said.  
As she went about her task Sia sat down next to Nerine, asking, "Are you alright?"  
"I'll be fine—no need to worry about me," Nerine said, giving a weak smile. "Say, where'd Itsuki go?"  
"Right here," Itsuki said, dragging a treasure chest into the circle. "I stored some equipment nearby, and I figured you'd put it to better use. It's armor specially made to be flame-resistant, plus some Fire Scrolls and a Phoenix Down."  
He opened the chest and pulled out some armor plates and a cloak, and Asa said, "I'm impressed, Itsuki. And here I thought you were just some perv trying to get laid!"  
"The tent is ready," Kaede said.  
Asa helped Nerine into the shelter and then came back to where the others were, and she grabbed a Flame Shield and said, "You said it'd be a short walk to the crystal chamber, right? How short?"  
"A minute, tops," Itsuki said. "Of course, that's not including any enemy encounters, but even still it shouldn't take long at all."  
"Let's not even waste time fighting," Asa said. "Kaede, you have smoke bombs, right?"  
"Yes, I do," Kaede said. "We could use them to escape our enemies."  
"Isn't that kind of cowardly?" Sia asked.  
"We need to move as quickly as possible to keep Nerine from overexerting herself," Asa said. "I love experience as much as anyone, but I think in this case it would be wiser to avoid these battles."  
"Alright…I guess that makes sense," Sia said.

After everyone was rested and back in top condition, the party left the safe zone and continued their trek to the crystal chamber. They encountered a group of four Balloons on the way, but Kaede used a smoke bomb and they escaped the conflict to save time. Soon a large door presented itself, and Itsuki said, "Okay, this is the crystal chamber. You're probably going to have to pass one more trial, so be prepared."  
He opened the door and ushered the girls inside, and there hovering over a circle of light in the middle of a pool of lava was the Crystal of Fire. "I assume getting to it is part of the trial?" Asa said.  
"A trial indeed," said a voice behind them.  
The Warriors of Light spun around to see Vitirus enter the chamber, and Itsuki asked, "Who's this?"  
"An enemy," Kaede said, readying her knives. "He must have followed us."  
"It was quite easy, with you focused on your task and worried about your friend," Vitirus said, taking a few steps forward. "The river of lava was troubling, but Her Majesty opened the Void so I could get across…which is exactly how we'll get the Crystal of Fire."  
A large gateway to the Void opened up before Vitirus, but just as he was about to step through it suddenly dissipated, and a voice echoed through the chamber:

"_This is Fire's domain. Fire shall not be taken so easily by the Void…Warriors of Light, fulfill your duty: defeat this man and protect Fire."_

"Tch…meddlesome crystal," Vitirus said. "Fine then—I won't be beaten so easily this time!"  
Sia charged her hammer with energy and said, "Easy or not, we're still taking you down!" She swung at Vitirus who dodged and punched her, but then Asa appeared before him and struck with a Bio Spellblade. Nerine, realizing she didn't need to keep the group cool anymore, cast Ruin on the general, and Itsuki used Jump to soften him up for Kaede's Fuma Shuriken. Vitirus ran up and punched Itsuki down, getting hit by Sia's hammer in the process, and then clapped his hands together and knocked everyone back with a shockwave.  
Asa sprang up and made contact with her weapon, and then she turned to Nerine and said, "You should probably cast Libra. He might have gotten stronger since last time."  
Nerine nodded and cast the spell, and as Kaede attacked with a mini-earthquake the Sage said, "Lots of endurance, resistant to physical attacks, no weakness…it really won't be easy."  
Itsuki used Lance and said, "Let's lets be on our guard. We can't let anything happen to the crystal."  
Kaede willed stalagmites to grow up from under Vitirus, and Sia threw her hammer but it was deflected as Vitirus summoned his energy aura. The general blasted the group with energy bolts and dodged Asa's sword, and Nerine healed the party while Itsuki and Kaede kept up their assault.  
"Give up, insects," Vitirus said as he attacked again. "All Elemental Crystals belong to Yggdrasil—to the Void!"  
Sia was about to attack when she got an idea, so she ran over towards Kaede and started talking as Asa cut Vitirus and Itsuki used Lance. "…Alright," Kaede said. "Nerine, try to keep him there!"  
Dodging more energy bolts, Nerine cast Hold on Vitirus as Kaede exerted her Earth powers and caused a portion of the ground to become like a see-saw.  
"Nice job!" Sia said, smashing her hammer into one end of the see-saw and flinging Vitirus over their heads, right into the pool of lava.  
"Resourceful…" Itsuki muttered. "I guess that's that, then."  
The Crystal of Fire started to shine brighter, but then Vitirus' arm shot up out of the lava and grabbed it. "Rrrr…you think I wasn't specially equipped to deal with the heat?" Vitirus hissed as he walked towards the Warriors of Light.  
"…Even still, you must have a breaking point," Asa said, making a Firaga Spellblade. She, Itsuki, and Kaede all rushed in and attacked him, meanwhile Sia charged her hammer and Nerine used a healing spell.  
Vitirus flicked his wrist, flinging lava at his foes, and said, "Fools! Attack me and you risk hitting this crystal. Are you willing to destroy that which you are sworn to protect?"  
Sia grinned and said, "It won't break…woman's intuition." She then dashed out and slammed Vitirus into the ground, sending the crystal tumbling through the air until it stopped and turned into a ball of red light.

"_You have proven yourself worthy. Take my power, and incinerate all enemies in your fury."_

Transforming into a necklace, the Crystal of Fire lowered itself around Sia's neck, and Itsuki said, "So you're the one it was waiting for…I suppose my job is done."  
Vitirus stood up and punched Sia, shouting, "No! I'm not done yet!"  
Sia rolled when she landed, charged her hammer with flames, and rammed him back into the lava, and Asa said, "Yeah, I think you are."  
"How do we get out of here?" Kaede asked. "There must be some quicker way than the main path."  
No sooner had she spoken that the Crystal of Fire emitted a pulse of light, and the next thing the party knew they were back at the entrance to the cavern. "I suppose that's a nice shortcut," Nerine said, and then looked over at Sia.  
The god's eyes were blank, and the crystal continued to glow as she spoke:

"_Another element has been saved. You must be quick, Warriors of Light, for the Void grows only stronger. Its minions shall come at you without end, never missing a chance to disrupt your quest. Do not lose courage…the Crystal of Wind is found near Zephonus…"_

The necklace dimmed and Sia shook her head, and Kaede asked, "Is that what happened to me in Verbena?"  
"It's awfully late, and we already paid for our rooms," Asa said. "Zephonus is downriver from here, so if we buy a canoe we can get there within a day."  
"I have a canoe you can use," Itsuki said. "I'll bring it by in the morning."  
"What's the condition this time?" Sia asked.  
"No conditions, believe it or not," Itsuki replied. "I'm a guardian of the Crystal of Fire, so now that it's found a bearer it just seems I should do what I can to help you."  
"Thank you, Itsuki-san, for everything," Nerine said. "Yggdrasil is likely to send more troops here—make sure you are prepared."  
"Don't worry, I've got things covered around here," Itsuki said. "But maybe once you ladies are done saving the world you'd like to come back here and pursue option 1? I'm not going anywhere, so feel free to drop by anytime you like."  
"Keep dreaming," Asa chuckled, heading back towards the inn.

_With a second crystal in hand, the Warriors of Light move forth in their journey, alert for danger. Itsuki sees them off and then goes to rally the fighters of Vesuverest, wondering if the Crystal of Fire will ever return…_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Kaede folded up the canoe and put it in her pack, quickly jogging up the riverbank to catch up with the others. "Even the water creatures are getting vicious," Asa commented as they entered the main gate to Zephonus. "Is this all because the crystals are disappearing?"  
"I don't know, but either way we need to finish our mission," Nerine said. "Let's ask around and see if anyone knows where the Crystal of Wind is."  
A passer-by suddenly stopped and turned towards them, repeating, "Crystal…?"  
"Yeah, do you know where we can find it?" Sia asked.  
"Well, Cid was going on about this green crystal he found in the ruins," the man replied. "We all just assumed her went nuts, though…he said it talked to him, told him to guide the 'Warriors of Light' or something like that."  
"Please, where can we find this Cid?" Kaede asked.  
"He's probably at the castle—been trying to get an audience with the king ever since he came back," the man said.  
"We have a place to start!" Asa exclaimed. "This is already going better than last time!"

******

"Please, you must let me speak with His Majesty!" Cid begged. "Why don't you understand how important this is?"  
"You've always been a little off, Cid, but this is weird even for you," the guard said. "A talking crystal, Warriors of Light, some all-consuming Void? It sounds like a fairy tale."  
"But it's the truth!" Cid insisted.  
"I don't care about your stories, and neither does the king," the guard said. "Now get out of here before we have to arrest you."  
Frustrated, Cid turned and walked down the steps of the castle, stopping in the middle of the courtyard and grumbling, "I'm not crazy…"  
It was at this point the Warriors of Light entered the courtyard, and Asa said, "Hey, I bet that's the guy we're looking for!"  
"What makes you so sure?" Kaede asked.  
"He seems angry, and that guy in town said nobody believes the story about the crystal," Asa replied. She then ran over and said, "Hello! Are you Cid?"  
"Yes…who are you?" Cid answered. "Travelers come to laugh at an old man?"  
"Actually, no," Asa said. "We're the Warriors of Light, and we heard you found the Crystal of Wind."  
Cid said nothing at first, but eventually responded, "You four? You're the Warriors of Light?"  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Asa asked, giving a disappointed and annoyed glare. "What were you expecting? Are we not good enough?"  
"Forgive me if I'm skeptical, but I've had a tough time getting people to believe me," Cid said. "For all I know this is just some prank."  
Asa sighed and glanced at Kaede and Sia, who held up their necklaces as she said, "Earth and Fire Crystals. Want a demonstration?"  
Kaede said, "Um…Asa-sempai, I don't think now would be the best time to—"  
She was interrupted as Sia created a fireball in her hand, playing with it and asking, "Convinced yet?"  
"Fire is a basic spell," Cid said.  
"Okay then…Kaede?" Asa said. Kaede said nothing, so Asa continued, "Fine…if you don't believe us then we'll just get the crystal ourselves."  
"Those ruins are dangerous—you could get hurt," Cid protested.  
"Well if you're so concerned then come with us," Asa said. "I'm sure you'll see plenty of proof that we are who we say we are."  
After a few more seconds of silence, Cid replied, "Fine…but if this is a prank you're going to regret it!"

After returning to Cid's house to pick up some equipment, the party left Zephonus and headed northeast, soon coming upon a giant stone structure that was obviously quite ancient. Cid approached a giant doorway and pressed his hand against a glyph, and after a brief flash of light the door opened and he led everyone inside.  
"So what's the layout of this place?" Sia asked.  
"On the lowest floor is a teleporter which will send us to the place where I found the crystal," Cid answered. "There are a lot of traps, though, so be careful."  
"Aw, how bad can it be?" Asa asked, walking down the hall and freezing as she felt a floor tile depress. A nearby wall slid aside and dozens of poison darts flew out, but Nerine quickly cast Protect to stop them before any damage could be done. "Eh…heh…I stand corrected," Asa said with a nervous grin.  
"This is why I don't work with anyone under the age of 30," Cid sighed. "You, didn't you say you had Earth powers? You should be able to scan the ground and find the traps a lot faster than when I came here before."  
"Oh…yes," Kaede said, kneeling down and touching a hand to the floor. "…There are five more trap panels on this level. Most of them shouldn't be a problem, but there is one near the exit."  
"Wait…if you found the traps last time, then why are we searching for them again?" Nerine asked.  
Cid scratched his head and said, "Well…I forget where they are."  
"I guess your age must be getting to you," Asa said. "But enough of that, let's get going!"  
The party advanced cautiously, navigating the halls until they ran into a group of small robots that fired several lasers at them. "Soldiers, right?" Sia said as they took cover. "Robots made with ancient technology to guard important stuff like tombs…I hear fire works well against them."  
She created a fireball and hurled it at one of the Soldiers, and as Asa created a Fire Spellblade Cid said, "You can't just destroy them! We could learn all sorts of things from these machines—they're valuable specimen!"  
"I think a few have already been captured and dismantled," Asa said. "Will destroying these ones make that much of a difference? And how else are we going to reach the crystal?"  
"…Fine," Cid mumbled.  
Asa ran up and slashed a Soldier, followed quickly by Kaede, and after they backed up Nerine cast Firaga to finish the machines off. Cid walked out and picked up a piece of metal, and Asa said, "I'm sorry, but we really have no alternative."  
"I know…I'll get over it eventually," Cid said.  
"This tile is a trap," Kaede said. "Be sure to step over—"  
"Wait!" Asa shouted. Kaede stopped and backed up, and Asa came over and narrowed her eyes, pointing at a brief shimmer a few feet above the ground. "Trip wire. You'll need to step higher than that."  
"Wow, I'm glad you caught that," Nerine said. "Stand back; I'll get rid of it."  
Once there was some distance between them and the wire Nerine cast Ruin, shooting a sphere of magical energy that severed the wire and cause a pit of spikes to open up. Kaede created an earth bridge over it so they could cross, and then they descended a staircase and came out on the next floor of the ruins: a large bed of sand with several Soldiers resting in the walls.  
Sia took a step forward and began to sink into the sand, and after the others pulled her out Cid said, "This floor is very unstable. Give me a minute and I'll make a tonic that can allow us—"  
Sia sent a huge wave of flames over the sand, fusing it into one sheet of glass, and Cid finished, "…That works too…"  
The party proceeded with caution, wondering if the Soldiers would react to their presence and being as quiet as possible. Once they were on the other side of the glass they relaxed a bit, but the next step taken triggered a trap and the Soldiers came to life.  
"Stay back," Nerine said, preparing to cast a spell.  
"I got this," Sia said. She walked up to the edge of the glass and looked at each of the robots, and then smashed the surface they stood on and sent them tumbling into an abyss.  
As they descended the next staircase, Kaede asked, "Why did you come here in the first place, Cid-san?"  
"Ruins like these are none for containing all sorts of ancient knowledge," Cid replied. "I wanted to investigate and see if I could learn anything useful, though I must admit I found the trip rather unfruitful…and I certainly didn't expect to find that strange crystal."  
"What exactly did the crystal say to you?" Nerine asked.  
"It introduced itself as the Crystal of Wind and asked for my help," Cid said. "I was told that four Warriors of Light would soon come to Zephonus and needed to be brought here, that I should guide them to this crystal or else the Void would overtake all existence."  
"And you believe us now, right?" Asa asked.  
Cid grunted and made no further reply, and then group stepped into the next chamber: large, mostly barren, and with a sarcophagus resting on the far wall. Kaede checked for traps and then they moved forward, Sia asking, "Where's the exit?"  
Cid examined the sarcophagus and said, "This wasn't here the last time…"  
He was suddenly flung back by a pulse of energy, and the coffin opened to reveal a mummy staring mindlessly at them. The monster took a few steps towards them, and Asa said, "Guess this is a guardian…Nerine, can you cast Libra?"  
"No, don't waste your power on that," Cid broke in. "I can analyze it instead. You devote your magic to other outlets!"  
Nerine nodded and turned to the mummy, casting Diara on it, but the creature barely seemed to notice and blasted her with an energy beam. Sia surrounded her hammer in fire and smashed their foe back while Kaede stabbed it, but the attacks seemed to have no effect at all. Asa looked over at Cid and asked, "Well? Anything?"  
"Hm…ah, yes!" Cid said. "A Pharaoh: very powerful, resistant to all forms of damage, regeneration, virtually impossible to defeat. It can, however, be petrified."  
"Really…" Asa said, lifting her sword. She created a Break Spellblade as the Pharaoh clawed at Nerine, paralyzing her, and Sia and Kaede battered it with their elemental powers to no avail. Cid gave Nerine some medicine to heal the paralysis and the Pharaoh prepared to attack again, but Asa jumped out and slashed the undead creature, creating a huge gash brimming with magical energy that soon made the monster turn completely to stone.  
"Everyone okay?" Asa asked.  
After healing any injuries they entered the sarcophagus—which concealed the doorway leading out—and descended another flight of stairs to reach a safe zone. A moment's rest was all they needed, and then they pushed open the next doorway and entered a room containing a large pillar of light.  
"One of these again," Sia said. "I guess it's going to take us to more ruins?"  
"Hmhm…I suppose you could say that," Cid replied, entering the warp.  
The Warriors of Light were a bit confused, but as they needed to get the crystal they too entered the warp. When they stepped out they noticed the sky above them, and Sia said, "Not underground, at least…"  
She walked over to where Cid was, at the edge of the platform, but before she could say anything more she noticed that the sky was below her too. She jumped a bit and backed away, and Cid laughed, "Hahaha! This was built by the ancients, no doubt—a flying fortress of sorts! Incredible, is it not?"  
Kaede closed her eyes and said, "Oh dear…"  
"Are you scared of heights, Kaede?" Nerine asked.  
"Guess that makes sense with her being the Bearer of Earth," Asa commented. "The sooner we get the crystal the sooner we can get out of here. So, where is it?"  
"Up these stairs," Cid said, gesturing to a large staircase.  
"Um…perhaps I should just stay here?" Kaede suggested.  
"Don't worry, Kae-chan, we won't let you fall!" Sia said. "It's only scary if you look down!" It took a bit more convincing to get Kaede up the stairs, but eventually they reached the next platform and saw what they had come for: the Crystal of Wind, floating over a circle of energy a medium distance away from them.  
"See, that wasn't so bad," Asa said. "Let's get the crystal and we'll be on our way."  
She took a step forward and felt a tile depress, and Cid muttered, "Way to go."  
The floor between the party and the crystal opened up and a whirring sound could be heard, and soon a giant robot rose up on a platform and loomed over them. "…Cid, can you analyze this one?" Asa asked, creating a Drain Spellblade. "Any extra information on this thing will probably go a long way."  
The machine punched at the party so they scattered, and Sia jumped at it with a flaming hammer. Kaede threw a Fuma Shuriken and dodged another punch, and Nerine cast Ruin to distract it from Asa's strike.  
"Aha!" Cid exclaimed. "An Iron Giant: lots of endurance and defense, no particular magical weakness but it'll be more effective than physical attacks."  
Sia shot a flamethrower and said, "Low accuracy, too. This isn't so difficult!"  
The Giant then sprouted a sword from its wrist and swiped at the party, knocking them back, and Nerine said, "I think it's angry…"  
She cast Thundaga and got to her feet, and Kaede handed her a potion and said, "I don't think I can contribute much here, so I'll handle the healing—you can focus on attacking."  
Cid mixed together some bizarre concoction while Asa slashed at the giant's legs, and Sia and Nerine combined their fire magic to smother the target in heavy flames. Kaede was about to toss out some potions when the Giant swung its sword again, knocking the party down, and then a compartment on its chest opened up and a glowing sphere within released a pulse of energy. The next thing the party knew, moving their bodies became virtually impossible, and Nerine said, "Ah…multi-target paralysis. We can't defend ourselves this way."  
"Hmph…" Asa grunted, getting to her feet with great difficulty. "I'm not going to roll over and die so easily."  
"Here…take this," Cid said, making the briefest gesture towards the drink he had made. "It will increase your power."  
The Iron Giant punched Asa, flinging her back near where the item lay, so she got to her knees, drank the mixture, and then stood up, her Spellblade now glowing more brightly. The Giant punched again, but this time Asa blocked with her shield and swung her blade through a gap in its armor, severing a group of wires and causing the hand to go limp.  
"Surprised?" Asa asked, grinning. "I guess it's my fault we woke you, so to make up for that I'm gonna reduce you to scrap metal!"  
The Crystal of Wind brightened as the Iron Giant made its next attack, and as Asa parried its sword a voice began to speak:

"_You have proven yourself worthy. Take my power, and the air you breathe shall empower you beyond measure."_

The crystal then turned into a ball of light, shot out towards Asa, and formed a necklace around her neck, and the Iron Giant took a few steps back. A mini-tornado formed around Asa's blade, and she said, "Thanks…I'll put this to good use."  
She leapt up and struck the giant, unleashing the winds and sending the machine flying over the edge of the platform and plummeting to the earth. The others were beginning to recover now, and Cid said, "Incredible…"  
"Yeah, Wind powers," Asa said.  
"No, not that," Cid said, running over to where the crystal had once floated. A treasure chest with strange markings was hidden there, and Cid said, "These markings are used for the most valuable of treasures…how did I not notice this before?"  
"…Right," Asa said, turning back to the others.  
Nerine began healing the party as Cid pulled several scrolls out of the chest, and Sia said, "If Asa gets Wind, then that means you must be Water, Rina. We've almost gotten all the crystals we need!"  
"But the Crystal of Earth said that gathering the crystals 'will only be the beginning'," Nerine reminded her. "We don't know what comes next, and it's probably not going to be easy."  
"Oh, don't be so negative," Asa said. "We'll worry about that after we get the Crystal of Water, so for now…"  
She trailed off and her eyes went blank, the Crystal of Wind shining brightly as she spoke next:

"_The Crystal of Water is under attack. Yggdrasil has found its location and is making an all-out assault. Hurry to Atlific, Warriors of Light, for if the waters still then all hope of stopping the Void will be lost…"_

There was a bright flash as the party was teleported back outside the ruins, and Asa shook her head and mumbled, "Whoa…what happened?"  
"The crystal was speaking through you," Sia said.  
"Atlific is so far away…how can we get there in time?" Kaede wondered aloud.  
"I believe I can help you with that," Cid offered. "Well, not me exactly…there's a Chocobo farm back in Zephonus. If you borrow some Chocobos you can get to Atlific much quicker than you would on foot."  
"Sounds like a plan," Asa said. "Come on, let's go…and could you fill me in on what the crystal had me say?"

_Knowing time is short, the Warriors of Light speed towards Atlific to save the Crystal of Water. Cid sends them off and begins to study his scrolls, discovering something that may become very valuable…_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Even from a distance, the Warriors of Light knew things were bad. On Chocobo they had made it to Atlific in two days, but as they neared the seaside town and say fires and billowing smoke they dismounted the giant birds and instructed them to return to Zephonus.  
"Do we have a plan?" Nerine asked.  
"Yep—rush in and take 'em out," Asa said.  
She sent a blast of wind to blow the smoke away while Sia charged in and knocked down several platoons of soldiers, and Kaede said, "Well, if it works…"  
The party dispatched large numbers of Yggdrasil soldiers as they pushed into the city, never finding any of them difficult, and by the time they reached the center of town they were wondering how the army had been so successful. None of their enemies relinquished any information about the Crystal of Water, so they decided to take a look around and find some locals.  
"Halt!" shouted a voice.  
The Warriors turned to see another platoon of soldiers aiming guns at them, but as these had different uniforms Nerine asked, "Are you the Atlific military?"  
"You bet we are," one of the soldiers said. "Now who are you, and why are you here?"  
"Warriors of Light, here to save your city and the Crystal of Water," Asa replied. "There are some Yggdrasil soldiers knocked out over there if you need proof we're on your side."  
The soldiers started to murmur, but a voice from their midst yelled, "Lower your weapons!" The troops did as they were ordered and a girl with white armor and wheat-colored hair stepped in front, and she said, "My apologies, Your Majesty, they're a little jumpy."  
"Ruri?" Sia said. "What are you doing here?"  
"I was on my way to find you when I saw this town under attack," the girl replied. "Your father sent me to assist you, but he said that if I saw Yggdrasil meddling where it doesn't belong to lend a hand."  
"Oh, I see," Sia said. "Guys, this is Ruri Matsuri, a Paladin serving my family. Ruri, this is Asa, Kaede, and—"  
"Princess Nerine," Ruri finished, bowing. "It is an honor. What brings you here?"  
"We need to find the Crystal of Water, and we were told it was in this city," Nerine replied. "Do you know anything about it?"  
Ruri thought for a minute before replying, "I think that general said something about a crystal. He took some of the troops and headed underwater, though…"  
"Vitirus," Asa said. "We need to follow him."  
"Underwater? How will we do that?" Kaede asked.  
Since Asa was at a loss, Ruri offered, "I have something that should do the trick. Come, this way."  
The party followed her down a few blocks to a large building, and as they entered a village elder said, "Ruri, who are these newcomers?"  
"They're here to repel the intruders," Ruri replied. "To do that, however, we must follow their general…we need five flasks of Oxyale."  
"…Very well," the elder said, reaching into a cabinet.  
"What is Oxyale?" Kaede asked.  
"It's a special mixture that allows the drinker to breathe underwater for 24 hours," Ruri explained as the elder distributed the flasks. "With this we can follow the enemy and, hopefully, find this crystal you're looking for."  
The party drank the Oxyale and headed towards the seashore, taking out more soldiers along the way, and Nerine said, "You don't have to come with us, you know. We can defend ourselves, and the Atlific army could probably use some help."  
"My primary objective for being dispatched was to locate and assist Lisianthus-sama," Ruri said. "The military will be fine—I must follow my orders."  
"You've always been so strict with following your orders," Sia said. "Well, let's go. We need to be quick if we're going to save the Crystal of Water."  
As they walked into the ocean the girls took their first breaths a little nervously, but after seeing that the Oxyale did in fact work they quickened their pace along the sand and sediment. "I thought this would be much worse," Asa said.  
"Easy for you to say," Sia said. "Fire magic is twice as difficult in a place like this…"  
"We need to find out which way Vitirus went," Nerine said. "He probably left some guards behind, so if we follow the trail it should lead us right to the Crystal of Water."  
The party came upon a ridge and looked down to see two armed men with some sort of breathing apparatus, so Kaede drew her knives. "Wait a moment," Ruri said, grabbing her arm. "Let's make this as easy as possible…Invis."  
The spell took effect and Kaede seemingly vanished. A few seconds later the soldiers' breathing tubes were severed, and they dropped their weapons and quickly swam for the surface. "I guess that means we're heading in the right direction," Ruri said, removing her spell from Kaede.  
"I heard one of them mention something about a coral reef," Kaede said. "Are there any nearby?"  
"There is one in an undersea canyon just ahead, but it's full of whirlpools," Ruri said.  
"That could be a defense mechanism," Nerine said.  
"We have our destination!" Asa said, dashing ahead. She was soon stopped by a wall of seaweed, but after chopping it down she saw raging torrents assaulting the waters beyond.  
"This way down looks safe," Sia said, pointing to a calm spot.  
"Um…is it really wise to do that?" Kaede asked.  
Nerine cast Sight and said, "Most of these currents stop a bit of the way down. The path to the crystal is probably underneath…I can accelerate our descent with Gravity magic, if everyone's alright with that."  
Seeing it as the best option, the girls stepped out over the edge and Nerine altered gravity, pulling them down towards the bottom of the ocean.

Vitirus punched through a wall of coral and jumped through the gap before it regenerated, only to see nothing but more of the obstructive branches ahead. "This is taking forever," he said, plowing through the next wall.  
"You would be wise to hurry," advised a voice coming from the communicator in his helmet. "I can sense the Warriors of Light are coming after you."  
Vitirus paused for a moment, and then obliterated more coral and said, "They won't get the crystal this time."  
"I certainly hope not," the voice replied. "They already have the other three crystals they need. If they get the Crystal of Water then there is a chance they may defeat the Void…you will be punished severely if you fail me this time."  
"…Yes, Your Majesty," Vitirus said.

As the Warriors of Light were about to touch the ground a squad of troops began firing on them, so Nerine let up on her gravity magic and blasted them with Thundara. Asa created a Blizzaga Spellblade to freeze her target solid, and then Sia smashed the victim apart while Kaede disarmed several more foes. Ruri held out her hand and summoned a sword of light, which she used to cut down a line of enemies, and then she cast Protect on Nerine to give her enough time to blast away the survivors.  
Approaching the coral reef, Asa noted, "There's an entrance here…a maze of coral, then? Sounds neat."  
"Aw, that could take forever," Sia whined. "Why don't we just smash it?"  
"Ah…I think that may upset the crystal," Nerine said. "I'll cast Hastega on us to speed things up."  
They entered the maze and soon came to a fork in the path, so they went right and encountered a large whirlpool. Figuring they had gone the wrong way the party retraced their steps and took the other path, but before long they ran into a wall.  
"That's strange," Ruri said. "There must be a path forward…"  
Nerine stepped closer to the wall and examined it, finding a loose segment of coral that she then adjusted. A portion of the wall lit up, startling the girls, and then a bolt of energy flew out down the 'hall'.  
"…Maybe that's the key," Nerine murmured.  
Rushing back to the first path they had taken the party discovered that the whirlpool had vanished, and Sia said, "Wow, amazing! Nice job figuring it out!"  
"We don't have time to celebrate just yet, Lisianthus-sama," Ruri said, creating her sword of light and bracing herself.  
Several strange creatures were now rising up from where the whirlpool had been, and Kaede said, "These are Sahagins…we must have disturbed them."  
A Sahagin leapt out but was struck down by Asa, and Ruri blocked another attacker that Sia then smashed. Nerine electrocuted the sea creatures and said, "We can't waste time here. Let's go."  
Another fork soon presented itself, so this time the party split up: Nerine, Sia, and Ruri went one way while Kaede and Asa went the other. The latter group soon reached a wall, so Asa looked it over and said, "Guess there's supposed to be a switch here? Let's see…"  
She put a hand to the wall and ended up pushing in a chunk of coral, and once the wall released an energy bolt she followed it back to the others. "We already took care of the Sahagins," Ruri said. "Now that we know what to do, this should be easier."  
The trek through the maze continued to repeat this pattern, with Nerine constantly recasting Hastega to accelerate the process, and eventually they came to an enormous whirlpool that towered over them.  
"There aren't any forks…is the switch around here?" Kaede wondered aloud.  
A loud shriek then reached their ears, and out of the whirlpool stepped a Sahagin three times as large as normal. "A King Sahagin…it must be a guardian," Ruri said.  
Asa created a Thundaga Spellblade and said, "This should be loads of fun."  
She slashed the Sahagin's legs and jumped away before it could counter, and while Kaede leapt at its face with her weapons Ruri cast Protera on the party. Sia swung but the creature blocked her hammer and kicked her back, and then it dodged a Ruinga and spat a ball of ice at Nerine. Ruri began to cast Shell on everyone as Kaede stabbed the Sahagin's back, and Sia drew its attention so Asa could charge up power.  
"This should work," Asa said, releasing a blast of air aimed directly at their foe's gills. The Sahagin choked and stumbled back, so Nerine took her chance to strike it with Thundaga and Sia used her hammer to smash the beast's skull.  
"That wasn't so bad," Sia said, walking over to the defeated monster.  
"Your Majesty, get down!" Ruri shouted, raising her sword.  
The King Sahagin's corpse exploded, hurling shards of ice in every direction, and even with Shell active it did a large amount of damage. Sia shook her head and looked up see Ruri standing in front of her with a shield of light, ice shard lodged in her armor, and she said, "Ruri…?"  
"Rrgh…are you unhurt, Lisianthus-sama?" Ruri asked, lowering the shield. "I tried to warn you…King Sahagin's are known to use final attacks such as this when slain."  
Sia caught Ruri as she stumbled back, saying, "You didn't have to do this…"  
The whirlpool dissipated to reveal a safe zone, so the party gathered into the circle of light and began recovering. Ruri pulled the ice shards out of her armor, wincing, and Nerine came over to heal her as Kaede pulled several potions and ethers out of her bag. "Looks like the end of the coral," Asa said. "The crystal can't be too far off now."  
"Which means we'll probably encounter Vitirus soon," Kaede pointed out.  
No one had anything to say to this, so silence remained among the party until Nerine said, "There—you're all healed."  
"Thank you, Nerine-sama," Ruri said.  
Nerine took a few ethers to restore her power and then sighed, "Alright…is everyone ready?"  
The others nodded and they left the safe zone, almost immediately coming upon a short tunnel that led them to a large cavern lit with glowing plants. The corpse of a large shark could be seen near the exit, and as they swam past it they noted that it looked like it had been killed quite recently. A loud noise from ahead caught their attention, so they went up to staircase leading out of the chamber and arrived in an air pocket, seeing a large stone doorway that looked like it had been forced open, and ahead of that, in a majestic chamber of gold and standing in front of the Crystal of Water, was Vitirus.  
Nerine cast Ruinga to get his attention, and the general growled, "Warriors of Light…I thought for sure we wouldn't be cursed with your meddling this time."  
Ruri began casting defensive spells on the party as Nerine challenged, "We can't let you do this! Don't you have any idea what will happen if the Void isn't stopped?"  
"Of course I do," Vitirus said, drawing a large sword. "Her Majesty will use it to consume this entire world, and only she and those loyal to her will have any chance of surviving. You don't have the power to stop her, and I'd much rather be on the winning side!"  
He deflected the Shuriken Kaede threw at him and shot energy bolts at the party, and then he charged forward and brought his blade down on Sia, who just managed to raise her hammer to block in time. Asa swung a Thundaga Spellblade at the general and missed, and then Sia pushed him back with a wall of flames and Ruri attempted to slash him. Vitirus blocked and created a shockwave by slashing his sword, but Kaede stunned him with a blast of earth and Nerine cast Blizzaga. Asa got in a few hits with her Spellblade before Vitirus hit her with an energy beam and Sia managed to knock him down, though he rolled back up and sent her flying with a blow from his blade. Ruri healed them as Nerine cast Comet, but Vitirus quickly recovered and attacked them all with quick sword swipes, and then he dodged any attempt to counter. Kaede managed to protect herself from the next strike using doppelgangers, a move that confused Vitirus enough for Sia to smash him several times, but when Asa sent a cyclone at him he shot energy bolts and then used a focused beam on Ruri.  
The Paladin healed everyone and said, "This is a powerful adversary; it's all I can do to keep everyone healthy."  
"I see you've gotten tougher since last time," Asa said, charging winds as Kaede used earth fists against Vitirus. "Glad to see it—things would be no fun if they were easy!"  
She sent multiple sharp air 'blades' at Vitirus, making gashes in his armor, and then Sia made a flame pillar erupt from underneath him, but Vitirus jumped up and smashed the ceiling, causing water to leak in and douse the flames.  
"Say what you want, you foolish little girls, but all you have will be taken by the Void," he said, using a sweeping energy beam to heavily damage them all.  
Nerine shook her head and took note of the rising water level in the chamber, and getting an idea she asked, "Ruri, can you use Float?"  
"Yes, Nerine-sama, but why do you ask?" Ruri responded.  
"Cast it immediately, on everyone!" Nerine ordered. "After that heal everyone as much as possible, in case something goes wrong, and stand back!"  
Ruri did as she was instructed, casting Float on everyone as they continued to fight Vitirus, and after they were all floating and healed Ruri said, "Alright, it's done."  
"And what do you hope to accomplish with that?" Vitirus asked, charging energy.  
"I want them to avoid this," Nerine said, casting Thundaga.  
Vitirus dodged, but the lightning then hit the water on the chamber floor, completely coating it in a layer of electricity and leaving Vitirus no way to escape, the sparks coursing through his body and being amplified by his metal armor and the water that was still on it. The spell eventually ceased and Vitirus collapsed, his body still trembling, and the Crystal of Water flashed brightly as its voice spoke to the warriors:

_You have proven yourself worthy. Take my power, and your strength will flow as a waterfall and crush those against you._

It moved towards Nerine and transformed into a necklace, and then there was another flash that teleported the party back to the surface. "…We did it," Nerine said. "We found all four crystals…"  
Asa shot a blast of wind that downed an approaching Yggdrasil soldier, and then she said, "Let's finish up with this town before we celebrate, 'kay?"

_With the final primary crystal in their possession, the Warriors of Light drive off the Yggdrasil army with renewed energy. The first part of their journey is now complete, but are they truly prepared for what comes next…?_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Ruri attached the bag to the saddle of the black Chocobo, and then she turned and asked, "Are you sure you won't be needing my assistance? I was sent here to aid you in your quest."  
"We don't even know what the next part of our quest is," Sia said. "Dad needs to be updated on what's going on. Tell him we've got our crystals, and we're heading back to Verbena to decide what to do next, and that he and the King of Demons should get in touch with the humans so we can organize one big strike on Yggdrasil."  
"Yes, Your Majesty," Ruri said, bowing.  
After a final round of good-byes she mounted her Chocobo and it took to the air, flying off into the distance, and after it was out of view Asa sighed, "Ah, it's going to be such a long walk back to Verbena…what, four days?"  
"I believe there is a river about a day's journey from here," Kaede said as the party lifted their packs and exited the town. "With the canoe Itsuki gave us we can ride the current and get home in half the time."  
Sia clenched her fist and said, "Right! Let's get back as soon as we can!"  
"We should probably try and think about our next move on the way," Nerine suggested.  
"I vote attack Yggdrasil," Sia said.  
"I'm not sure it'd be a good idea to do that just yet," Asa aid. "We don't know exactly how powerful the queen is, and we could probably use a little more practice. Maybe one of the crystals will speak up and give us a hint."  
She waited for a moment, but nothing happened. "Well, that's why we're going back to Verbena," she continued. "The elders said they would research the crystals, so they could've found something."  
They discussed possibilities for an hour or two, but since absolutely no progress had been made they decided to give it a rest. About then they were entering a forest, and not far in they began hearing people shouting. Deciding to take a closer look, they approached the noise and spotted a group of men in black carrying a variety of weapons, with a wagon of expensive-looking items. "Bandits," Asa said.  
Sia grabbed her hammer and prepared to charge, but Nerine stopped her and said, "We need to take a calm approach."  
She prepared to cast Confuse on the thieves, but then another came out of a tent dragging someone behind him: a young girl with light, purple-gray hair, holding a stuffed cat tightly in her arms. "Why'd you even bother catching this one?" the man asked, throwing the girl to the ground. "She's no good to us."  
"Then what do you want to do with her, boss?" asked another. The first drew his sword and prepared to give his answer, but before he got the chance a knife buried itself in his heart, and then Kaede appeared behind him and took her weapon back.  
"I guess we could always fight our way out," Nerine sighed.  
She sent blasts of water to sweep away several bandits as Sia and Asa ran in to attack, and Kaede took the girl to the edge of the battlefield and asked, "Are you alright?"  
The girl stared at her with blank eyes, quietly replying, "Yes."  
One of the bandits came up behind Kaede, who sent him flying with an earth pillar, and then she turned and threw a shuriken to kill another bandit. "You should get out of here," Kaede said. "This is no place for—"  
She was cut off as one of the bandits fell down from the trees and knocked her aside, and as the man turned towards the young girl Kaede shouted, "No!"  
The girl raised her hand and a pillar of earth rose up to attack the man, exactly as Kaede had done before, and then she turned to Kaede and asked, "Are you alright?"  
"Y…yes, but…how did you do that?" Kaede asked.  
"Kaede!" Asa called as she and the others approached. "Oh, there you are! One of them got away with the wagon, but we took care of the rest."  
"I see," Kaede said. Turning back to the girl, she asked, "How did you do that, with the earth?"  
"I did what you did," the girl replied.  
"Wait…are you a Mime?" Nerine asked.  
The girl nodded, and Asa said, "A Mime, at this age…? What's your name?"  
"Primula," the girl answered.  
"Primula," Asa repeated. "Do you live somewhere around here?"  
Primula shook her head and said, "I want to go to Verbena."  
"Verbena…? Why is that?" Kaede asked.  
"I want to go there," was Primula's answer.  
Nerine and Asa stepped back for a moment, the former asking, "Should we take her with us? It might be safer for her if we just take her back to Atlific."  
"Yeah, but she is a Mime," Asa said. "She can use anything she sees us use to defend herself…I say we take her. What's the worst that could happen?"

Primula didn't say much as the party traveled, choosing to silently bury her face in the head of her stuffed cat and only look up to Mimic something the others did to dispose of a foe. Eventually they stopped to rest for the night, and Kaede set up some tents and began preparing a meal.  
"Cute kid, huh?" Asa said.  
"Hm? Oh, yes," Kaede replied.  
"She doesn't remind you of anyone, does she?" Asa asked.  
"…No," Kaede said, "she does not."  
After a bit of a pause, Asa said, "About the other thing…I'm surprised you didn't mention it earlier."  
"Nerine and Sia have other things to attend to," Kaede said. "I don't want them to get dragged in…I'll find her myself."  
"Kaede, you need to let it go," Asa said. "What if you can't find her? What if Sakura never comes back?"  
"She will," Kaede said. "I'm going to find her, and Rin, even if I have to plunge straight into the Void."  
Asa said nothing at first, but then she said, "Remember the image of Primula with those bandits and tell me it doesn't remind you of when Sakura was taken away. Look me in the eye and tell me." Getting no response, she continued, "Primula isn't Sakura, Kaede. This isn't a do-over. And as for Rin, we'll get him back when we attack Yggdrasil—I promise."  
With that Asa left, and Kaede continued her task in silence until she felt a tug at her clothing. She turned to see Primula and said, "Oh, Rimu-chan. Is there something I can help you with?"  
"How much longer?" she asked. "Verbena."  
"We should arrive late tomorrow night," Kaede answered. "So, is there a specific reason why you want to go to Verbena?"  
"No," Primula said.  
"I see…" Kaede said. "Well, dinner will be ready in just a few minutes."  
Primula nodded and sat down, hugging her cat.

The next morning the party walked until they reached the riverbank and then used the canoe to continue, fighting off a few creatures along the way, and by afternoon they had come close enough to Verbena that they returned to traveling on dry land.  
"Are we there yet?" Sia whined.  
"We need to walk for a few more hours," Kaede said.  
"Ahhh, I'm tired of traveling," Sia sighed. "Rina, can't you just teleport us there?"  
"I'm sorry, but my spells don't work that way," Nerine said. "We're just going to have to keep walking."  
"And complaining will only make it more painful," Asa said. "So put on a happy face and let's get going!"  
Sia sighed but said nothing more, and Nerine leaned towards Asa and whispered, "Kaede seems distracted…is she alright?"  
"I hope so, but I'm really not too sure," Asa replied. "She's still blaming herself for something that happened long ago, and I think finding Primula brought it back to the surface. I tried talking to her, but I may have just made things worse…"  
"I see…" Nerine murmured.  
Primula suddenly stopped and stated, "Behemoth."  
Kaede stopped next to her and asked, "Is something wrong, Rimu-chan?"  
Sia, meanwhile, had gone on ahead a bit, but she too stopped walking after pushing aside some brush. "Ah…maybe we should find another way," she said.  
"Why's that?" Asa asked, approaching and seeing what lay beyond the line of trees: a large, muscular Behemoth asleep in a clearing. "Oh…that's why. Maybe we should go around…"  
The girls regrouped and walked along the outer edge of the clearing, keeping an eye on the Behemoth through the trees, and just as they were about to get back on their previous path a sharp crack filled the air. Everyone froze as the Behemoth twitched and raised its head, scanning the clearing and looking right past them. It was about to put its head back down when another crack could be heard, so the monster got to its feet and walked towards them, baring its teeth and emitting a low growl.  
"Well, we tried," Asa said, creating a Wind Spellblade she used to fling the beast backwards.  
Nerine willed a pillar of water to erupt beneath the Behemoth as Sia charged a flaming vortex, and Kaede turned to Primula and said, "Just stay out of this—be safe!"  
An earthquake rocked the creature, which then rushed forward and knocked down Asa and Sia, and then it swiped at Nerine before she had the chance to defend herself. Kaede ducked under the beast's claw and stabbed at its neck, but her knives couldn't puncture the Behemoth's skin and she too was sent to the ground. The Behemoth roared and faced the only one still standing—Primula—and as it charged she said, "You can't even handle one Behemoth."  
Primula's eyes flared with light and a gateway to the Void appeared, swallowing the creature whole, and as Primula walked to the other side of the clearing the Warriors of Light slowly got to their feet.  
"…Impossible," Asa murmured.  
In a burst of energy, dark gray armor appeared on Primula, and a spiked whip replaced her stuffed cat as she faced the girls, a blank look in her eyes.  
"…No, she couldn't…" Sia said. "I mean…she couldn't…"  
A very dark purple, almost black, crystal appeared around Primula's neck, and Kaede said, "Rimu-chan…"  
"How could I have been so foolish," Nerine said, readying her staff.  
"I expected more too," Primula said. "Kneel before the Queen of Yggdrasil."  
"I never thought our worst enemy could be such a little girl," Asa said, casting an Osmose Spellblade. "I should've been more careful."  
"I'll make this simple," Primula said, extending her hand. "Give me your crystals, or I will cast you into the Void with them."  
"If you want our crystals so bad, why didn't you just take them?" Sia shouted. "You've had plenty of opportunity!"  
"She's a Mime, remember?" Nerine said. "She wanted to study our techniques before taking the crystals. Now she can copy all of our powers."  
"Rimu-chan…why?" Kaede asked.  
"It must be done," Primula said. "Will you cooperate or not?"  
"No way!" Sia said, rushing forward.  
"Sia, don't!" Nerine shouted. Primula flicked her wrist and used her whip to make Sia drop her hammer, and then she launched a ball of energy that exploded in the girl's face and flung her into a tree.  
"Sia!" Asa exclaimed, looking back just in time to dodge Primula's whip. Nerine sent a razor sharp, crescent shaped disk of water at Primula, but the young queen absorbed it into the Void and willed an earth fist to rise up and punch Nerine, and then she emitted a blast of mental energy that devastated her target's thoughts.  
"Kaede, we need your help!" Asa shouted, grabbing Nerine and moving her away from Primula's next attack. "Come on—Sia's unconscious and Nerine can't focus enough to use magic! You've gotta snap out of it!"  
Primula summoned a tornado of fire around Asa and Nerine and then struck both of them with her whip, and then she turned to Kaede and waited. "…Why…?" Kaede murmured. "Why…why…why?"  
She drew her knives and ran at Primula, but before long she collided with an energy barrier and Primula said, "I do not belong here."  
Primula used her whip to send Kaede flying before continuing, "Time is wasting. The Void will have your crystals." A portal to the Void opened above her head and the wind in the clearing picked up, whipping around the crystals and spiraling towards the portal, and one by one the crystals flew into the gateway. First was the Crystal of Earth, then Fire, and then Water, but Asa managed to catch the Crystal of Wind just before it flew out of reach.  
"Stubborn," Primula said.  
"What, you thought we'd just let you win?" Asa said. "You haven't learned anything about us."  
"I know more than you think," Primula said. "But that doesn't matter now." Using her whip she knocked the crystal from Asa's hand, and once it too entered the Void Primula closed the gateway and turned her back on the party. She had only taken a few steps when she stopped cold and hunched over, dark energies exploding in bursts around her, and Asa wondered, _What's going on?  
_Another portal to the Void opened above Primula and the four crystals she had just taken shot out into the sky coated in dark energy, pausing several feet above the tree and emitting a pulse of light that battered everyone below. "I forgot…Fiends," Primula said. The crystals shot out in four different directions and Primula opened a new gateway, saying, "It seems neither of us wins…good luck finding your crystals again."  
With that she left, and Asa punched the ground and shouted, "Dammit! How could we let this happen?" She gazed over her injured companions as the full effect sank in, noticing that even though unconscious, Kaede was still crying.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The Warriors of Light had no choice but to take the night to recover, and the next morning they walked into Verbena feeling horribly defeated. "Ah, you have returned!" said the elder who came to greet them. "Did you find the crystals?"  
"Well…we DID find them," Asa said, "but then the Queen of Yggdrasil showed up and…cast them into the Void." The elder was quite shocked to hear this, and Asa added, "But then they flew back out of the Void…and in various other directions. We need to find them again…"  
"…I see," the elder said. "You need to track down the Fiends."  
"Fiends?" Sia repeated.  
"Primula said something about that," Asa said. "What are Fiends?"  
"Come, this way," the elder said, leading them into town hall and down to the library. "In our research of the crystals we found that it is impossible for their energies to flow in more than one direction. When a crystal already bound to a bearer is swallowed by the Void, it is able to resist having its power drained and escapes the Void, but not without being tainted."  
The elder handed the party an open book depicting crystals and various monsters like dragons, Medusa-like creatures, living corpses, and more, all centered around an image of the Void. He continued, "The crystal is filled with Void energy, takes on a life of its own, creates a body for itself, and becomes a hostile being known as a Fiend. You should still have enough energy to use your elemental powers, but these Fiends…there's no telling what they will do. If allowed to roam free they could ruin countless lives."  
"So the question is, how do we find them?" Asa said. "Aside from getting the crystals back, we can't let these Fiends run around and destroy stuff…it's kind of our fault."  
"Well, they're not likely to blend in, but you'll have difficulty finding them on foot," the elder said. After pondering this for a few seconds, he said, "I will arrange for a ship. That should help you locate these Fiends."  
"Thank you," Asa said, bowing. "In the meantime, would it be alright is we rested and visited some people in town?"  
"Of course," the elder said. "I shall send for you when the ship is ready."  
The Warriors of Light turned and headed out, but then Asa stopped and said, "Oh, I almost forgot! Where are Mayumi and Kareha?"  
The elder began to say something, but then he stopped, lowered his head, and quietly said, "They were captured…not long before you arrived, actually."

Mayumi rammed into the bars and shouted, "Let me out of here! Fight us like a man, you coward!"  
Vitirus kicked the cart and said, "Be quiet! It'll take a lot to get back to my former position, and you two are going to be real useful."  
"How so?" Kareha asked.  
"You're friends of the Warriors of Light," Vitirus explained. "We capture you, we have a bargaining chip for dealing with them." He put a hand to the bag hanging on his back and continued, "As an added bonus, I even found two crystals on my way. Her Majesty will be most pleased."  
Mayumi head butted the bars and sighed, "I'm not going down like this…Kareha, help me out here!"  
Kareha glanced at Vitirus and then looked back to Mayumi, moving her hands and showing that she had burned through her bindings. "Don't say anything," she whispered, using Fire magic on Mayumi's bindings as well. "Break a hole in the door and I'll take care of the enemy."  
Mayumi grinned and turned to the wall, taking a sturdy stance, and then she punched with both fists and launched it at Vitirus, stunning him long enough for Kareha to jump out of the cart and cast Thundaga. "Nice one, Kareha-sempai!" Mayumi said, cracking her knuckles. "Now let's beat the crap out of this guy!"  
"Rrgh…I'm done underestimating you little girls," Vitirus said, drawing his sword. "I'll cut off your limbs before taking you back to Yggdrasil!"  
Mayumi braced herself and focused as Vitirus fired an energy beam, and then she ran up and punched him twice before backing off so Kareha could cast Blizzaga. Vitirus knocked them down with his sword and then punched the ground, causing a massive shockwave, and he said, "I already defeated you in Verbena. You think you stand a better chance now?"  
"Why not?" Mayumi said, kicking the sword from his hand and then hitting him in the jaw with an uppercut. Kareha hit him with Firaga before he could recover, giving Mayumi time to grab Vitirus's sword, and Vitirus launched several energy bolts to force them back. Mayumi leapt at Vitirus and swung the sword, breaking it over the man's armor, but Mayumi kicked the broken tip, sending it slicing through his cheek, and then jammed the other part of the sword into his ankle between two plates of armor.  
"You seem weakened from our battle earlier," Kareha noted.  
"Hah!" Vitirus laughed, charging an energy beam. "I'm in perfect condition!"  
"Oh, I see," Kareha said. "Then this shouldn't hurt at all." She cast Flare on the general, knocking him down, and then Mayumi came up and kicked him while he was down—literally.  
"How'd we lose to you earlier?" Mayumi said, punching at Vitirus.  
The general caught her fist and threw her into Kareha, soon exploding with energy and yelling, "Enough! I am sick of losing of teenage girls!" He rushed in and began punching his enemies over and over, unleashing blasts of energy with each hit, and then he sent out a shockwave that sent them flying.  
"Hm…I'll say when it's enough," Mayumi said, healing with Chakra. "By the way…what did you say was in here?"  
She held up the bag Vitirus had been carrying, and Vitirus said, "The crystals…! Give me that!"  
He aimed at Mayumi but was hit with a Bio spell from behind, and Kareha got back to her feet and said, "You shouldn't take what doesn't belong to you, Mayumi, but since he stole them as well I suppose it's not as bad."  
Light then burst from the bag as the two crystals rose into the sky, shimmering brightly as they projected voices:

_You have proven yourself worthy. Take my power, and withstand all opposition with the endurance of pure steel._

_You have proven yourself worthy. Take my power, and electrocute any who would strike against you._

The crystals turned into necklaces then, one for Mayumi and one for Kareha, and Vitirus said, "No! Not this time!"  
He ran forward to attack, but Kareha shot a beam of electricity to paralyze him, and then Mayumi reached out and said, "What a twist, huh?"  
She clenched her fist and Vitirus's armor twisted around and moved in to crush him, but suddenly a portal to the Void rescued Vitirus and another voice spoke: **"More crystals have found their bearers…and you were the one who brought their crystals to them. You will be punished for this, Vitirus."  
**"I take it you're the Queen of Yggdrasil, then?" Mayumi said.  
"**Return to Verbena,"** the voice advised. **"Your friends could use your help."  
**The gateway disappeared, and Mayumi sighed, "It's a long walk back…we'd better get started."

"Does anyone want more tea?" Ama offered.  
"Nah, I'm good," Sia said.  
"Thank you for letting us rest here, Shigure-san," Nerine said.  
"Don't worry about it," Ama said. "Any friend of A-chan is welcome here!"  
"So are you sure we shouldn't go looking for Mayumi and Kareha?" Sia asked.  
"There's already a search party out, and they'll send a message if they find anything," Asa said. "…I'm still not exactly comfortable with it, but…"  
"Then when do you think the elder will have that ship for us?" Sia asked.  
"Shouldn't be long now," Asa said. "What is our plan, anyway? Sail around until we run into a Fiend?"  
"I'm afraid we don't have much else to go on," Nerine said.  
"Hm…any ideas, Kaede?" Asa asked. Kaede gave no response, just staring down silently. "Anything, at all?" Asa pushed. "We could use some ideas…"  
"What does it matter?" Kaede whispered. "There's no point in even trying…"  
"…You're saying we should just give up?" Asa said. Kaede said nothing, so Asa sighed, "That's it—come with me."  
She grabbed Kaede by the collar and dragged her outside the house, and the she drew her sword and said, "Snap out of it, Kaede!"  
Asa hit Kaede with the flat of her blade, knocking her over, but Kaede did nothing to retaliate. "Sakura is gone," Asa shouted. "Rin's gone. Primula turned out to be our enemy. So what? That doesn't mean you should just give up! Fight back!" She swung again, still getting no reaction, and continued, "A lot of people are counting on you, you know. You used to cling so heavily to the belief that you could still save the people who have been taken from us—where's that belief now? Answer me, Kaede!"  
"I don't know…" Kaede said. "I don't know what to believe…"  
"How about this," Asa said, "you're the Bearer of Earth. That means you need to act like it and stubbornly hold on to hope right up to the very end! The Void has take people we care about—are you just going to let it get what it wants? Let it swallow up everyone else? Because that's what happens when you give up, Kaede Fuyou. Four elements are needed to destroy the Void, and like it or not you're one of them. You're allowed to feel sad and mourn for people, but you can't let despair take you over! You have a destiny to fulfill…"  
She paused before adding, "Unless you want to let Sakura's sacrifice go to waste. Let her disappearance be meaningless, if that's what you want."  
Kaede screamed and lashed out at Asa, who dodged and slashed, but Kaede ducked under the sword and stabbed Asa's leg. Asa cut Kaede and kicked her back, and then Kaede threw a shuriken that Asa deflected and sent a pillar of earth to fling her foe skyward. Kaede jumped up to attack with her knives but collided with a veil of wind surrounded Asa, who then shot a blast of air the drove Kaede into the ground. Asa dropped down and swung her sword, but Kaede rolled out of the way and stabbed, and before she could retreat Asa grabbed her and locked eyes.  
"That's more like it," Asa said. "So? Are you coming with us?"  
Kaede paused and pulled back a bit, and then she said, "Yes…I'll keep fighting."  
"Hey, what's going on here?" Mayumi said as she and Kareha approached down the path. "You two got into a real fight? We've missed a lot…"  
"Mayumi, Kareha!" Asa said, running up to greet them. "You're okay!"  
"Of course," Kareha said. "We defeated the man who captured us and came back to town, and the elder said we could find you here."  
"He also said something about a ship," Mayumi said. "You're not leaving again, are you?"  
"I'm afraid we have to," Asa said. "We'll explain…wait…are those crystals?"  
"That man was carrying them, and during the battle they gave us their power," Kareha said.  
Nerine, Sia, and Ama had come outside now, and Sia said, "Wow, more crystals! We could probably use their help hunting down the Fiends."  
"But then Verbena would be unprotected," Asa said.  
"Actually, I've figured out a way to cast a protective spell over the town to keep it safe while we're away," Nerine said. "I'll need to discuss a few things with the elders, but it shouldn't take long."  
Asa thought for a minute, and then said, "Kaede? What do you think?"  
"…It's going to be dangerous," Kaede said. "But…Mayumi-chan and Kareha-sempai are very powerful. We would most definitely benefit from having them along."  
"Well, Asa-sempai?" Mayumi said.  
"Okay, if it's what you guys want," Asa said. "Mayumi, Kareha, welcome to the Warriors of Light!"  
"If the ship's ready, then we should get going," Sia said.  
"Oh…but I was just about to bake some cookies," Ama said.  
There was a brief silence, and then Asa said, "Well, one short delay won't hurt…"

Asa gripped the wheel of the ship and said, "This is it…we're off to find the Fiends."  
"You said you had no way of tracking the Fiends, though," Kareha said. "How do you plan to find them?"  
Asa began thinking, but suddenly Kareha's Crystal of Lightning glowed and lifted a few inches, rotating around and pointing to the southeast. "Leave it to the crystals," Asa said. "Alright then! Girls, prepare to set sail! We've located the first Fiend!"

_With new allies and new transportation, the Warriors of Light follow the crystal towards one of the Fiends created from their own lost crystals. But just what is it that they will encounter…?_

Vitirus knelt and said, "I am truly sorry, Your Majesty. I will accept any punishment you see fit."  
"This may work to our advantage," Primula said, hugging her stuffed cat. "Now the Warriors of Light can find their Fiends."  
"…Um…if I may, Your Majesty," Vitirus began.  
"A crystal returned from being a Fiend is purer and more powerful than a crystal that never was a Fiend," Primula explained. "We will let the Warriors of Light purify their crystals and grow in strength. Once their power reaches a peak, they will be strong enough to provide the Void with the power to engulf the world. And then…I can finally return home…"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Asa walked down the dock and glanced over the destroyed buildings in the town, saying, "I think it's safe to say there's a Fiend here…"  
"That or something else really destructive," Mayumi said. "Either way, we should probably find it and take it down. Any idea where to start?"  
Kaede looked around and spotted a villager, so she approached him and asked, "Excuse me?"  
The villager turned to face her, but as soon as he saw her he jumped and ran away screaming, and Sia said, "…That's just rude."  
"Maybe they're just a bit jumpy," Kareha said. "If they're under attack by a Fiend, it makes sense they'd be wary of newcomers."  
The Warriors of Light walked into town and wandered around a bit, but no one was out and all of the doors and windows locked as they went by. "If they're so 'jumpy,' how are we going to get any information?" Mayumi asked.  
"There must be someone willing to talk to us," Asa said, looking around a street corner.  
Suddenly something fell from a nearby rooftop and released a huge cloud of gas, temporarily blinding the party, and several nets flew in and tangled them up. "We've got her!" shouted someone. "Everyone, move in—but be careful!"  
Asa summoned her Wind powers to blow away the gas, revealing and stunning a crowd of villagers charging at them, and Kaede cut herself free and then threw enough shuriken to sever the nets holding the others. "What's going on here?" Asa demanded, casting a Firaga Spellblade.  
"Rrgh…I should've known it wouldn't be this easy," one of the villagers said. "I don't know how you came here in daylight, Reath, but it means we have an advantage. You can't hide from us!"  
"Who's Reath?" Sia asked.  
"I don't know what lies she's told you, but that creature behind you is incredibly dangerous!" a villager said, pointing his sword at Kaede.  
"Who, Kaede?" Nerine asked. "You must be mistaken—we've been traveling with her for a few weeks and this is the first time we've been to this town."  
"Hah! You expect us to believe you?" one of the villagers shouted.  
"But…she does look a bit different from Reath," another villager said. "And it still doesn't make sense, her coming out in daylight…plus we shouldn't have been able to surprise her with that grenade."  
"What, you believe them?" the first yelled.  
"I promise, I mean you no harm," Kaede said. "Whoever this Reath is, I've never met her."  
"Wait…if she looks like you, then she must be the Earth Fiend, right?" Kareha said.  
"Good thinking, Kareha!" Asa said. "Hey, villagers, we're actually here to take down this 'Reath'. Can you tell us how to find her?"  
The villagers began mumbling amongst themselves, and after a while an old man pushed his way through. "What's the matter with you people?" he said, walking up to Kaede. "You know there's a simple way to settle this."  
"Oracle Zykard?" a villager said.  
"Shh, I need silence," the old man said, striking the ground with his walking stick. He stared intently at Kaede, squinting and stroking his beard, and just as Kaede was about to say something he smiled and said, "This girl is most certainly not Reath. She has a pure heart—scarred by sorrow and loss, perhaps, but still pure. Sorry for attacking you girls, but we've been trying whatever we can to stop Reath."  
"I understand," Kaede said.  
"Only been a few days since Reath showed up, but she's already caused so much destruction," Zykard said, walking towards a building. "Come this way—we should compare notes and see if we can come up with something."  
The Warriors of Light followed him, Asa asking, "So what do you know about Reath?"  
"She's a vampire who looks nearly identical to your friend," Zykard said, leading them inside and having them sit at a table. "Her speed and strength far surpasses that of any of our warriors, not to mention she can control the earth. Our only relief is that she can only come out at night."  
"We've been tracking beings created from Elemental Crystals we previously possessed," Kaede said. "This Reath sounds like she was born from my Crystal of Earth…how can we find her?"  
"She will attack again tonight, no doubt," Zykard said. "We would be very grateful if you were to help us fight her. I can predict where she will attack and when, but I'm afraid I won't be much help in battle. If you will excuse me, I'll go look into it now—please make yourselves at home."  
Zykard walked into the other room and Kareha said, "What a nice old man."  
"If we're going to be fighting at night we should probably get some rest before then," Nerine said. "We may have a lot of information on our enemy, but we shouldn't underestimate her."  
"I'll go find an inn," Kaede said, standing up and walking out.  
Asa followed her outside and stopped her, saying, "Kaede, how do you feel about this?"  
"…A little unsettled," Kaede said. "I'm afraid…if Reath was made from my crystal, then doesn't that mean I'm capable of all this too?"  
"Don't think about it that way, Kaede," Asa said. "Reath came from the Void—she doesn't have the strength to resist doing this like you do. After we defeat her, she'll just fade away into nothing, but you'll still be here. You get to decide who you want to be."  
"…Right," Kaede said, smiling. "Thank you, Asa-sempai."

Later that night everyone went inside and locked their doors, leaving the streets completely empty until a single shadow fell upon the road around midnight. The shadow stalked down the street until it finally approached a house, and just as it was about to knock the door opened and let out a flood of light as Kaede stepped out. "Are you Reath?" she asked.  
Asking wasn't necessary—the girl before Kaede looked like her but with pale skin, darker hair, and red eyes, and she wore the same clothing but with the addition of a black cape lined with red. Reath smiled, showing her fangs, and said, "Kaede-chan…I was wondering when you would get here. Did the others come, or do I only have you to feed on?"  
The other Warriors of Light stepped out of other nearby buildings, letting more light onto the road, and Kaede said, "We can't let you keep harassing this town. I'm afraid I have to take my crystal back."  
"Is that so?" Reath asked. "Remember I am the Earth Fiend, Kaede—I AM the Crystal of Earth. Do you have it in you to kill your own reflection?"  
She reached up to catch a shuriken, and Kaede said, "If I have no other choice…then I suppose I'll have to."  
Reath laughed and punched the ground, causing walls of earth to rise up all around her, and then she jumped on top of one and began shooting boulders at the Warriors of Light. Kareha cast Thundaga, but Reath jumped out of the way and brought her foot down on Kareha's head, and then she spun around and caught Sia's hammer with one hand. Before she could attack again the earth walls crumbled and the debris flew at Reath, forcing her to guard, and after being pushed back a bit she found herself being attacked by swords growing out of the ground.  
Mayumi grinned and said, "Just stay right there." Chains grew out of the swords to bind Reath, but the Fiend just spread her arms to shatter the bindings and then countered the charging Asa with a powerful kick.  
Nerine raised an arm and said, "I know a vampire's weakness…Diaja!" Strong rays of sunlight pierced the clouds, scorching Reath and causing her to turn her attention to Nerine, and the young demon was soon sent flying by a punch.  
"At least you're more entertaining than the locals," Reath said as she dodged Kaede's knife. Kaede dodged the counterattack and smashed Reath between her fist and an earth pillar, and then Kareha threw a dagger made of sparks to paralyze their foe for when Sia and Mayumi attacked.  
Nerine helped Asa up and asked, "Are you alright?"  
"I'm fine, just see if you can draw Reath's attention," Asa said. "A Holy Spellblade would be loads of help, but at my current level I'll need a while to cast it."  
Nerine nodded and cast Meteor on Reath as she ran to create some distance, but Reath launched boulders into the air to defend herself and then knocked down Kareha before she could act. Reath ducked under one of Sia's fireballs and then turned to see Kaede and Mayumi attacking at once, so she dodged each strike and eventually ended up behind Sia, grabbing the girl and throwing her into her friends before using an earthquake. Nerine tried to cast Diaja again but Reath was suddenly right behind her, and the Fiend sunk her fangs into Nerine's neck and brought out a piercing scream. Mayumi used her powers to make spikes grow from Nerine's armor, stabbing Reath and causing her to withdraw, and then Sia brought towers of fire up from the ground to burn the villain. Kaede used a Fire Scroll and ran over to Nerine, who was now healing herself, but rocks then flew out and hit both of them as Reath advanced.  
"You taste quite nice for a demon," Reath said, licking her lips. "I expected royal blood would have a special flavor to it…"  
Bolts of lightning homed in on Reath and struck her, and then Sia used a flaming hammer to knock her into a fissure in the ground. Mayumi focused and punched the immobilized enemy as Nerine got back to her feet, and Reath growled and used her own earth powers to set herself free and attack at the same time.  
"My…this battle is much more intense than our sparring matches," Kareha said.  
"Yeah, isn't it exhilarating?" Mayumi said, sending a line of blades towards Reath. The vampire avoided the attack and retaliated with her earth powers, but suddenly she felt a painful slash from behind and turned to see Asa, her sword glowing with intense white light.  
"Nice trick," Reath said, lunging out and biting Asa's neck.  
Sia used her hammer to knock Reath away, and Nerine healed everyone as Kareha cast Flare, but Reath charged up anyway only to stop right in front of Kareha. Reath looked down to see she had been stabbed in the heart by Kaede, and said, "Huh…I guess you do have the capability."  
Kaede stood up and pushed the knife deeper, saying, "Gomen nasai, Reath…but you need to fade back to the Void."  
Reath laughed, "Haha…I guess so. But first, I have something interesting to tell you…" She leaned in and whispered in Kaede's ear, "Sakura is alive."  
Kaede's eyes widened as Reath began to evaporate into wisps of dark smoke, and then the others gathered around as the Crystal of Earth appeared where Reath had once been.

_You have defeated your own darkness. You are now fit to wield your power to its fullest._

The crystal returned to its necklace form and Kaede suddenly became cloaked in shadows, and Sia said, "Kae-chan? What's happening?"  
"It must be some kind of transformation made possible by purifying the crystals," Nerine said.  
"Nice job, Kaede-chan!" Asa said, attempting to slap Kaede on the back but passing right through her. "…Uh…wasn't expecting that…"  
Kaede returned to normal and said, "Thank you all for helping me reclaim my crystal. We should get some rest and start searching for the next Fiend tomorrow."  
Silently, she added, _And maybe we'll run into Sakura as well…_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Asa looked up and yelled, "Kaede, are you ever coming down from there?"  
From up in the crow's nest Kaede said, "Huh? Oh, uh, coming!"  
She jumped down and landed next to Asa, who said, "Ever since we fought Reath you've been spending all your time up there. Are you looking for something?"  
"Just keeping an eye out for Fiends," Kaede said.  
"Hm…what did Reath say to you?" Asa asked. Before the conversation could continue a huge fireball collided with the side of the ship, and as the Warriors of Light scrambled they spotted a cloaked figure running along the nearby shore.  
"I'm guessing Fire Fiend," Mayumi said.  
Sia pulled the fire away from the ship and made it disappear, and Nerine looked and said, "It doesn't look too bad, but we should probably have repairs done."  
"I spotted some docks just up ahead," Kaede said. "From there we can probably find someone to fix the ship and chase after the one who attacked us."  
After pulling the ship into the docks the party split up, some going to find someone to repair the ship and others going to gather information. Kaede, Sia, and Nerine were in charge of information, so they headed into town and walked into a tavern that suddenly turned eerily silent, and Kaede whispered, "This seems familiar…"  
They approached the bar, attempting to ignore the strange looks they were getting, and the obviously frightened bartender said, "H-h-how can I help y-you?"  
"Uh…has anyone who looks like any of us come through here?" Sia asked.  
"W-well…yes," the bartender said. "I mean…if that wasn't you before…"  
"Who, me?" Sia said. "No, this is the first time I've been here."  
An audible sigh rippled through the tavern, and the bartender said, "Our apologies, then. Someone identical to you came in recently and caused quite the upset."  
"Wait…completely identical?" Sia asked.  
"Aside form the armor, the only difference I noticed was that this girl had narrow eyes," the bartender said.  
Sia had a visible reaction to this, but she quickly regained her composure and said, "I see…did she offer her name?"  
"No, just asked about some ruins in the forest south of here," the bartender said. "Then she started blasting fire everywhere and walked out…that's all I know."  
"Okay…thanks," Sia said, and then she and her companions left.  
"Definitely the Fire Fiend," Nerine said. "We need to get the others and investigate this ruins quickly."  
On their way back to the ship they ran into the rest of the party, and Asa said, "Oh, hey everyone! We got someone to fix the ship; how's your job going?"  
"We know where the Fire Fiend may be hiding," Kaede said. "We were just on our way to find you."  
"Then let's hurry up," Mayumi said. "Which way is it?"  
The Warriors of Light headed out the south exit of the village and towards the forest, and Asa asked, "Sia? You doing alright?"  
"Huh? Oh, yeah," Sia said. "Just wondering how similar to me this Fiend really is."  
"Don't worry—once we beat it you'll never have to think about it again," Mayumi said.  
"…Right…" Sia said.  
"Sia-san, you don't exactly sounds convinced," Kareha said.  
"Eh, I'm sure I'll feel better once we defeat the Fire Fiend," Sia said, attempting to smile. She looked up at the trees as they entered the forest, saying, "Hm, maybe we should have asked how far these ruins are…"  
"Oh, it's not too far," replied a voice. A cloaked figure stepped out from behind a nearby tree, her face concealed by a hood, and said, "Just keep going straight…and I wouldn't recommend taking any detours."  
Asa drew her sword and asked, "Are you the Fire Fiend? And while we're on the subject, are you the one who attacked our ship?"  
"Do you really need to ask?" the figure said. "Sia, you know the answer, don't you?"  
Sia readied her hammer and said, "I'm not so sure anymore…"  
"Oh, right, how could I possibly be the person you think I am?" the figure said. "Nothing's impossible, Sia. The bond between bearer and Fiend is a very special one…you could almost say they're like sisters."  
"Sia-chan, what is she talking about?" Nerine asked.  
"…I don't know," Sia said. "She's just trying to confuse us!"  
"Be that way, then," the figure said. "If you can make it to the ruins I'll fight you, but if you don't hurry I may just burn down this whole forest…maybe the town too." A wall of flames suddenly separated the party from the figure, and after getting rid of the fire they found that the strange being had disappeared.  
"That was an odd encounter," Kareha said. "Well, at least we know what to do now for sure."  
"Must you always look on the bright side?" Mayumi asked. "We're about to fight a Fiend!"

The Warriors of Light proceeded through the forest as fast as they could, dealing with a few wild creatures along the way, and when they did finally reach the ruins they looked around until finding an entrance. Kaede put a hand to the ground and said, "I don't sense any traps…it should be safe."  
Walking inside the group discovered a long spiral staircase that reached down into the earth, and when they reached the bottom they stepped into a hallway lit by torches and lined with walls covered in strange markings. At the end of the hall was a large chamber that displayed another wall with the same markings, and then the figure from before walked in from a side passage and said, "Just in time…"  
"Why did you bring us all the way out here?" Asa asked.  
"For this," the figure said, knocking on the wall with the inscriptions. "But to properly explain, I should introduce myself…"  
She drew back her hood, revealing a face identical to Sia's but with narrow eyes, and then she said, "My name is Kikyou, and I am the Fire Fiend…Sia, would you care to explain my true origins, or should I?"  
"…Kikyou," Sia murmured. "Why are you…?"  
Kikyou smiled and said, "I guess I will, then. You see, everyone, Sia was not alone in her mother's womb. Cineraria was meant to give birth to twins, but in the end only one baby could come into this world: the princess Lisianthus. But the story doesn't end there…does it?"  
Sia looked down and mumbled, "…I didn't want my sister to just fade into oblivion…so I absorbed her soul into my own."  
"Perhaps you had good intentions, but the soul you took was then trapped in the back of your mind with no control, forced to watch everything before you with no way to interact," Kikyou said. "At times that soul could push its way close enough to the surface to communicate with you, though anyone passing by would just see you yelling at your reflection…still, that soul remained trapped in a dark prison without the power to take control. And then, one day, Sia's Crystal of Fire was taken and turned into a Fiend…and that soul finally found its way to escape."  
"So…you were Sia's sister?" Mayumi asked.  
"Well aren't you quick?" Kikyou replied. "Still, I know you would come for me…so I found this as insurance I could still be a separate being. This inscription details a spell that can be used to separate the two of us into our own individual beings, without the madness this Void energy is bringing upon me. But to work, me must reunite once more; to do that, you have to defeat me; and as for that…I'm not about to make it easy!"  
She turned and threw fireballs at the Warriors of Light, all but Sia dodging, and Asa created a Holy Spellblade and said, "We can discuss this later—we just need to take down the Fire Fiend! Focus on that!"  
Kaede closed her eyes and shifted to her Slayer's Glory form, wearing the shadows as armor, and then she drew her knives, used an earthquake, and vanished from view. Kikyou floated into the air to avoid the attack and threw a wave of flames at her foes, and Nerine began applying protective and enhancement spells as Kareha used Bio to poison Kikyou. Mayumi created a spiked ball of metal and said, "Sia, launch this at her!"  
Sia raised her hammer and tried to launch the sphere, but she hesitated and it bounced off her hammer in the wrong direction. Asa jumped over a burst of fire and struck with her blade, being careful to avoid a counterattack, and Kaede appeared behind Kikyou in the blink of an eye to stab with her knives. Kikyou tossed a ball of energy that exploded when it hit the ground and then turned to Kareha as the Black Mage attacked with a lightning whip, dodging and retaliating with a flamethrower.  
Mayumi charged through a wall of flames to attack Kikyou head on and Sia threw a firebomb, but the flames did nothing to the Fiend, and Nerine said, "Sia, you need to fight to win! This isn't the Kikyou you know—this is a Fiend! If we don't stop her—"  
"I know what'll happen!" Sia shouted.  
Asa held up her sword to block an energy beam, and Kikyou said, "You'll have to do better, Warriors of Light!"  
She spun around to attack Kaede, but her attack went right through the young ninja and she ended up being attacked instead. Nerine healed everyone and Kareha cast Blizzaga, and Mayumi summoned swords up from beneath Kikyou that melted as a fiery aura surrounded the Fiend, who lashed out with fire blasts in all directions. Kaede moved in to attack but was pushed back by the flames, and Asa said, "Okay, plan B…which will take a while…"  
She backed off, raised her sword, and focused, and Mayumi said, "Sia, if we team up we can do some solid damage! I need to know if you're with me!"  
Kareha used Thundaga and Kikyou hurled flames at her, but then Nerine used a pillar of water to weaken the fires surrounding Kikyou and Mayumi summoned a dozen metal spheres.  
"…Alright!" Sia said, hitting each sphere and launching them at Kikyou.  
The spheres took Kikyou by surprised and paralyzed her, so Kaede rushed in and attacked repeatedly until she was finally hit back by an energy beam, and then Nerine attacked with disks of water, cutting through Kikyou and making parts of her cloak fall of. Orbs of lightning rained down, their powers amplified by the water, and Kikyou laughed, "Hahaha…keep trying!"  
She shot beams of energy at all her foes and them smothered half of them with flames, and when Kaede appeared in front of her she dodged and threw more flames before being kicked down by Mayumi. Nerine and Kareha attacked with their strongest spells as Sia charged her hammer with energy, but then towers of flame erupted all around the room and homed in on the Warriors of Light.  
Kikyou laughed, "Hahahahaha! You're all going to burn!"  
Asa lunged and slashed Kikyou with a Flare Spellblade, flinging her into the wall, but Kikyou got back up and shot Asa with an energy beam. Sia pulled back her hammer and Kikyou created a fireball in her hand, but Nerine cast Hold on Kikyou and Kaede appeared and stabbed the Fiend's heart. Wisps of Void energy started to lift off of Kikyou, but then she swung her arms and a huge burst of fire pushed the party back into the walls of the chamber.  
"Nice try, but you can't kill me!" Kikyou said, fire leaping up around her. "Only Sia can kill me—I'm her Fiend! Come on, Sia, think you can kill your sister again? Hahahaha!"  
Sia ran up and said, "You aren't my sister…you're a Fiend."  
She smashed Kikyou into the ground, energy splashing up around as she did so, and when she removed her weapon a cloud of darkness lifted up into the air and dispersed; Kikyou was nowhere to be found. The Crystal of Fire appeared before her and floated down, glowing brightly as it spoke:

_You have defeated your own darkness. You are now fit to wield your power to its fullest._

It returned to its necklace form and Sia's armor changed to red and orange, growing spikes at the hips and shoulders that resembled flames, and then Sia walked over to the wall and looked at the markings. "…Rina…can you read this?" she asked.  
"Um…I'm afraid not," Nerine said. "But I'm sure we can find a Scholar who can, very easily."  
"But first we need to finish our mission," Asa said.  
"Right," Sia said. "…Sorry, Kikyou…I promise I'll come back as soon as I can."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Whichever Fiend this is, it's already more annoying than the others," Mayumi said. "And we haven't even found it yet!" Following the crystals' directions the Warriors of Light had docked at a port town and moved inland, but after walking for three days they were beginning to wonder if there had been some kind of mistake.  
"I didn't realize how lucky we were that the last two stayed near the ocean," Kareha said. "This one must have realized the hike would wear us out."  
"Hopefully we'll find an Inn soon," Sia said. "I need a break from all this walking…"  
They reached the top of the hill and saw a town not far from their position, but as they came closer they noticed several buildings had been reduced to rubble. "The Fiend we're looking for can't be far away," Kaede said.  
Nerine stopped a nearby villager and asked, "Excuse me, but what's going on here?"  
"Our town has been under attack by a demon for quite some time now," the villager said. "It comes in the night, causes destruction, and then flees to the canyon north of here. Some of our warriors went to fight it, but they never came back."  
"Has anyone gotten a good look at this demon?" Nerine asked.  
"No, we've never seen it clearly," the villager replied. "After our warriors disappeared we sealed off the canyon with ancient technology to try and keep it trapped, but the demon is still attacking so the seal only serves to warn travelers."  
"I see," Nerine said. "Thank you."  
The villager walked off and Asa said, "Now we know where the Fiend is hiding, but we'll have to tear down this seal to get to it."  
"Doesn't sound like a challenge," Mayumi said. "Let's rest at the Inn before we leave, though—who knows what we'll run into on the way?"  
After resting the party headed north towards the canyon, not encountering much resistance along the way, and when they reached their destination they found the entrance blocked by a force field and guarded by a humanoid robot.  
"What is that?" Sia asked.  
"Who cares?" Mayumi said. "We're just going to smash it anyway, right?"  
"Kaede, can you disable the force field without drawing its attention?" Asa asked.  
"I'll try," Kaede said, and then she disappeared in a puff of smoke.  
She snuck over to the canyon wall and examined the force field generator, and then she drew a knife and gently pried open one of the metal plates. Seeing the wires inside Kaede decided which one to sever, but just as she reached for it the guardian turned and launched a net at her, Kaede dodging but having to jump down to the ground. The guardian used a flamethrower but Nerine raised a wall of water to protect Kaede, and Sia threw her hammer like a boomerang and knocked the robot down. The rest of the party rushed onto the field and Kareha used an EMP, weakening the robot but not shutting it down, and as it launched missiles at them Mayumi kicked the projectiles away and towards the force field.  
"Odd, that should have disabled it," Kareha said.  
Asa struck with a Thundaga Spellblade and backed away from a counterattack, saying, "This thing seems pretty durable; the villagers probably modified it to be a more effective guard."  
Kaede willed a rockslide to fall down the canyon wall at the guardians, but it avoided the attack and launched more missiles at them, and this time Sia knocked the missiles away and then Nerine cast Thundaga. Mayumi was about to attack when Asa said, "Mayumi, try not to break it. For the villagers' sake."  
"…Fine," Mayumi said, using her Metal powers to make the robot's weapons rust. Kareha used another burst of electricity to further weaken the guardian, and then Asa hit it with her Spellblade and Kaede restrained it with her Earth powers.  
"That should hold it," Nerine said. "Now we need to deactivate the force field."  
Kaede jumped back up to the opening she had made and cut through several wires, and once the force field died she came back down and the party headed into the canyon. There was a safe zone along the path but the Warriors of Light didn't need to stay there long, and after waking deep into the canyon a cold wind whipped around them and a voice greeted, "There you are…I thought you would persevere and find me sooner or later."  
The girls drew their weapons, Kaede activated Slayer's Glory, Sia went to her Burning Passion form, and Asa cast a Flare Spellblade and said, "Come on out, Fiend! There's no point in hiding anymore."  
"Who's hiding?" the voice asked, coming from right behind the party. They spun around but the Fiend cut past them before they could get a look at her, and when they turned back a powerful gust of wind tried to force them off their feet.  
"This must be the Wind Fiend," Asa said.  
"You think?" Mayumi asked.  
Kaede raised a wall of earth to shield them and then sent it forward, but the Fiend smashed it apart and remained still long enough for the Warriors of Light to see her. This Fiend looked like Asa but with long hair that was a paler shade of green, long claw-like fingernails, and she wore a tattered white dress and floated inches above the ground.  
"Call me Gale," the Fiend said. "It took you long enough to find me—I've been having a great time messing with that town you just came through."  
"Well, the time's come for us to beat the Void energy out of you," Asa said. "Any taunts you want to get in before we start?"  
"No, not at the moment," Gale said, spreading her arms. "Let's get to it."  
She swung her nails and sent sharp air waves at the party, and Kaede and Sia dodged and ran at her. Kaede warped behind Gale but was hurled back by wind, and when Sia swung her hammer with one hand Gale stopped it with a burst of wind, so Sia used her other hand to hit Gale with a flaming punch. Nerine was now buffing the party and Kareha and Asa combined their powers to send a tornado of lightning down the canyon, but Gale flew around it, kicked Mayumi down, and clawed at Nerine. Sia's hammer flew up and hit Gale back into Kaede's knives, and Mayumi punched at Gale only to have her fist blown off-course and hit Kareha instead. Asa cut Gale before she could escape, the Flare Spellblade reducing the Fiend's attack power, but Gale then created a tornado around her and scattered the Warriors of Light across the canyon and flew by each of them to attack faster than they could react.  
"She's faster than anything we've fought before," Kareha said as she cast Thundaga and Gale dodged the bolts.  
Sia sent a wall of flames forward and Gale snuffed it out and charged, but Sia blocked with her hammer and used her free hand to throw a fireball in the Fiend's face, stunning her long enough for Kaede to smash a boulder into her. Mayumi lashed out with a kick but Gale caught her and slammed her into the canyon wall, and then the Fiend brushed off one of Asa's wind blasts and flew up to strike with her nails. Gale was about to retreat when Nerine cast Hold, paralyzing her, and Asa took the opportunity to use her Spellblade to once again lower Gale's strength before the spell wore off and the Fiend sent her flying into the wall."  
"You're stronger than I thought," Gale confessed as she blocked Mayumi's punch and clawed back, but after losing so much strength her nails snapped against Mayumi's armor.  
Sia and Kaede were quick to take advantage of the situation, and Kareha threw a lightning dagger and said, "Guess we don't need to worry about your claws anymore."  
"I have other tricks," Gale said, flying up to the top of the canyon wall and inhaling deeply. The Fiend unleashed a horrible scream, knocking down the Warriors of Light with the powerful sound waves, and their armor caught on fire before the attack was over.  
Nerine healed everyone and Sia removed the flames, and Kaede said, "Fire…but she's the Wind Fiend."  
"Just as Asa can change the properties of her sword, I can change the properties of my scream," Gale said. "It's not as variable as Asa's power, but it's still incredibly useful."  
She inhaled again and Kaede warped next to her and stabbed her in the gut, but Gale then grabbed her and flew down, smashing her into the ground, and then Mayumi kicked Gale into the wall so Nerine could cast Meteor on her. Gale screamed again, this time with the Thunder element and paralyzing everyone but Kareha, who cast Flare to knock Gale back and give the others time to recover. The Warriors of Light readied themselves to attack again when Gale swept them all up into a tornado and used a Blizzard element scream to freeze them all, and when the tornado stopped the party fell to the ground to have the ice coating them brutally smashed off.  
Nerine used a powerful healing spell and Sia said, "She must be getting weak, right?"  
"That didn't feel weak to me," Mayumi said.  
Gale laughed and summoned a strong wind to pin the Warriors of Light to the canyon wall, and then she said, "Sorry girls, but I won't go down that easily. Now hold still—I've got one last scream I think you should hear."  
The Wind Fiend inhaled deeply and prepared to attack, but Asa used her own wind powers to free herself, dashed out, and drove her sword through Gale's throat, causing the winds holding the others to instantly disappear. Gale evaporated into nothing and the Crystal of Wind appeared before Asa, who lowered her sword as it spoke:

_You have defeated your own darkness. You are now fit to wield your power to its fullest._

The crystal returned to its necklace form and Asa's armor became a gleaming silver, and she sighed and said, "That's three down…only one to go."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Hopefully we won't have to hike for days to find this Fiend," Mayumi said as she got off the ship.  
"Well it is the Water Fiend, so she'll probably be by the water," Kaede said.  
"After this we'll have recovered all the crystals," Kareha said. "What will we do next?"  
"Let's focus on the task at hand," Asa said. "We need to find the Water Fiend and help Nerine take her down."  
They heard a scream come from up ahead and ran down the docks, seeing a villager being attacked by a being that was made entirely out of water. Nerine exerted her powers and willed the elemental to burst apart, and after waiting to make sure it wouldn't regenerate she asked, "Are you alright?"  
"Yes, I'm fine," the villager said. "Thank you for saving me, Lycoris-sama."  
Her eyes widening, Nerine said, "Wh…what did…you…?"  
"Nerine?" Kaede asked. "Are you okay?"  
"…You're not Lycoris-sama?" the villager said. "You look just like her…I suppose she's still in town, then."  
"Can you take us to see this Lycoris?" Asa asked.  
The villager nodded and led them towards the town, and Sia whispered, "This must be the Fiend, but this guy's talking about her like she's a hero. Is he a servant or something?"  
"I'll keep an eye on him," Kaede said.  
The party was led to the center of town and through a small crowd, and they found someone who looked just like Nerine but with blue eyes talking with some others. She saw them coming and suddenly fell silent, and then a sad smile came across her face and one of the others asked, "Lycoris-sama? Do you know these people?"  
Lycoris nodded and said, "Everyone, these are the Warriors of Light!"  
The crowd cheered and Mayumi looked around, saying, "Okay…did the Water Fiend just introduce us to the town? Instead of attacking us immediately?"  
Walking forward, Lycoris bowed and said, "Welcome everyone, I've been waiting for you to arrive. You must be tired from your travels—please come with me and I will show you a place you can rest."  
The Warriors of Light exchanged confused glances as Lycoris walked towards a building, and they cautiously followed her inside and sat down at a table. "So, Lycoris…" Asa started.  
"I know, you must be confused," Lycoris said as she sat down. "But you're not mistaken: I am the Water Fiend."  
"Then why haven't you attacked?" Kareha asked. "The other Fiends were all so violent."  
"It's because I'm not a normal Fiend," Lycoris said. "I'm a bit like Kikyou: another personality inside someone's mind. But since Nerine has stronger magic than Sia, I was able to use my control over that magic along with the Crystal of Water's natural energy to keep the Void energy in check. As long as I don't exhaust all my power, the Void won't make me a destructive monster…no offense to the other Fiends, of course—it's not their fault."  
"Hm…not so sure I buy it," Mayumi said.  
"But why did you and Kikyou become Fiends?" Sia asked.  
"When a Fiend is created the crystal draws out the darkest traits hidden in its bearer's soul," Lycoris said. "But if there is another personality inside the bearer, the crystal will draw it out instead and it will become the Fiend. It's obviously a very rare occurrence, but that's how it happens."  
"I see," Kaede said. "It does make sense…"  
"What, you believe her?" Mayumi asked. "She's a Fiend! They exist to destroy stuff, and if they can get rid of their original self they can live forever! This is just a trick to get Nerine to lower her guard!"  
"I don't know," Asa said. "What do you think, Nerine?"  
"…I…I don't think she's lying," Nerine said. "She seems like Lycoris…I don't see any of the Void in her."  
"…Who was the original Lycoris?" Asa asked.  
Nerine hesitated, and Lycoris said, "That's something that can be saved for later. Right now we should focus on what brought you here…I know you need the Crystal of Water back, but these people need your help. When I arrived in this town I found it swarming with Water Elementals, and after destroying them the people told me that they had been sent by someone called Requin. Apparently Requin is a wizard who has a grudge against this town and wants to destroy them…I had to do what I could to help. I wanted to go after Requin but the villagers told me how powerful he is, and I was afraid that I would exhaust my power and fall into madness. I told them…that the Warriors of Light would have the power to defeat Requin, and that I would protect the town until they arrived. I hope I wasn't out of line."  
"Not at all," Kaede said. "We'd be happy to help the town."  
"I'm glad," Lycoris said, smiling. "My job is done then…I won't put up a fight so you can get the crystal back more easily."  
"Just like that?" Asa asked.  
"Just like that," Lycoris said, nodding. "Your destiny is important, and you need the Crystal of Water to fulfill it. You can strike me down now if you want, but…please, let me go with you to fight Requin."  
"It's a trap," Mayumi said.  
"She probably just wants to offer as much help as she can," Kareha said.  
"If you don't trust me, then you can destroy me now," Lycoris said. "I know that my existence, in its current form, if a mistake…do what you will."  
Asa looked at the other members of the party—Kaede, Sia, and Kareha nodded, Mayumi shook her head, and Nerine remained perfectly still. "Nerine?" she asked.  
"…I think we should take her with us," Nerine said. "We could not easily explain our actions to the town otherwise, and I think she really wants to help."  
"Then welcome to the team, Lycoris," Asa said. "But we WILL be keeping an eye on you."  
Lycoris' face lit up as she said, "Th…thank you, so much! I promise I'll do my best! If you'll please excuse me, I need to go inform the villagers."  
She stood up and exited the building, and Mayumi said, "You're all insane! You're willing to trust a Fiend and march out into the woods, where there won't be any witnesses when she kills us?"  
"If you feel so strongly about it then you can stay here," Asa said.  
"And leave you alone with that Fiend?" Mayumi asked. "Yeah right."  
"Nerine, are you alright?" Kaede asked.  
Nerine said, "I'm not exactly sure…but we have other things to deal with right now."

The trek to Requin's lair was full of Water Elementals, but any that didn't fall before the Water powers of Lycoris fell before those of Nerine. Eventually they came to a cave with a sign that read "NO TRESPASSING," and Lycoris said, "This is it. Requin is somewhere in this cave."  
"Right…" Mayumi mumbled.  
The party entered the cave and soon came into a very large cavern with a huge pool of water in the center, and as they walked up to the edge of the rock ledge that circled the chamber they heard a voice say, "You must be the ones who have been destroying my Water Elementals."  
The party drew their weapons and saw a robed man carrying a rod on the other side of the chamber, and Lycoris said, "Requin. Why are you attacking innocent people?"  
"Innocent?" Requin repeated. "They tried to destroy my work, called me a madman! This is punishment for rejecting my work!"  
"I'd call it 'proving their point'," Asa said.  
"Hmph…you're just like all the others," Requin said, walking forward and looking down at the water. "But now I can destroy you, and without opposition I will take my revenge."  
"We didn't come here to hear you ramble," Sia said.  
Requin grinned and the gem atop his rod began to glow, and then he jumped off the ledge down into the water below. "…Did he just…?" Kaede murmured.  
Light then burst up from the water, knocking the party back, and then an enormous, tentacled beast rose before them and let out a ferocious bellow. "He turned into a kraken," Nerine said, raising her staff.  
"Hold on," Lycoris said. "I'll handle buffs and healing—you focus your powers on taking it down."  
Nerine nodded as Kaede activated Slayer's Glory, Sia activated Burning Passion, and Asa took on her Knight's Soul form, and Nerine then turned to the kraken and cast Meteor. Requin attacked but Mayumi raised a wall of metal to block, and then Kareha attacked with a beam of electricity that paralyzed the beast. Kaede jumped up, one of Requin's tentacles passing right through her, and she stabbed just as Sia hit their foe in the gut with her hammer. As Requin stumbled Asa ran in and swung her sword, activating a Thundaga Spellblade before it hit, and then she dodged an attack and Nerine brought a waterspout up from under their target. Kareha electrified Mayumi and Kaede's weapons before they attacked and Sia launched a giant flamethrower, but then Requin swung a tentacle and smashed the rock ledge, causing the Warriors of Light to plummet towards the water. Nerine and Lycoris quickly cast Float on the party, keeping them suspended in the air, and then Asa lunged forward and slashed, changing her Spellblade to Flare just as it made contact. Mayumi focused on Requin as Kaede created doppelgangers, and Sia and Kareha unloaded their elemental powers to keep Requin stunned until Nerine sent out a razor sharp water blast that cut off some of Requin's tentacles.  
The party was about to attack when the severed tentacles grew back, and after Requin smashed them into the wall Sia said, "Regeneration…that sucks."  
"He must have a weakness," Lycoris said, casting Libra.  
Nerine created a geyser powerful enough to smash Requin into the ceiling and Kaede attempted to make rock bindings, but Requin broke free and smashed them with his tentacles and roared.  
"Break," Lycoris said as she recovered. "He can be petrified—we need to cast Break."  
"Sounds simple," Kareha said, and then she cast Break.  
Requin remained the same however, and Asa cut his attacking tentacles and asked, "I thought that was supposed to work?"  
"He's a wizard, so he must have high magic defense," Nerine said. "Maybe if we combine our powers it will work?"  
"Right—if you, me, and Kareha all cast Break at the same time it should do the trick," Lycoris said. "Kaede, you too! Your Earth powers will boost our chance of success!"  
Kaede nodded and warped over to where the three spellcasters were, and then they all put their hands forward and in unison announced, "Break!"  
Requin attacked just as they cast the spell, but he slowed to a stop and turned completely to stone. Asa summoned a wind to blow the party back up to the tunnel, and then Sia threw her hammer at the petrified kraken, smashing it, and said, "That wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other battles we've been in lately."  
"Thank you," Lycoris said. "The townspeople are safe…I'm ready now."  
The others turned to Nerine, who asked, "…What will happen to you?"  
"I'll return to my hiding place in the back of your mind," Lycoris said. "But it's alright. I'm not meant to wander around as a Fiend."  
"…I can't," Nerine said.  
"I'm weakened from the battle, Nerine, and I've even lowered my own defenses," Lycoris said. "You can finish it with one Holy spell."  
"No, I can't let you die again," Nerine said. "I can't do it…I won't…"  
Lycoris sighed and walked up to Nerine, and after a brief pause the Fiend slapped Nerine across the face. "Snap out of it, Nerine!" Lycoris shouted. "You're the bearer of Water, destined to save the world from the Void! You need your crystal to do that, and you need to kill me to get your crystal back. I'm just a mistake, Nerine—don't you dare put me before the needs of the world!"  
Nothing but dead silence followed until Lycoris turned and said, "I'm not your Lycoris…I'm a Fiend. Did you forget that? Hmph…you're an idiot, Nerine—the Crystal of Water should've chosen a better bearer."  
Nerine looked to her staff and tightened her grip on it, and then she said, "…The spell Kikyou found should work for you too…I'll get you back out, Lycoris."  
"They say the third time's the charm," Lycoris grumbled. "Just get it over with, will you?"  
After one last moment of hesitation, Nerine lifted her staff and cast Holy, obliterating Lycoris, and then the Crystal of Water appeared before her and said:

_You have defeated your own darkness. You are now fit to wield your power to its fullest._

It became a necklace again and a silver cloak covered Nerine's robes and armor as a witch's hat appeared on her head, and Asa asked, "Nerine…?"  
Nerine returned to her normal form and began walking out of the tunnel, and when the others caught up to her she said, "Lycoris was my clone…she was created so that scientists in the World of Demons could have a better subject for their magic research. I don't know what they put her through, but Lycoris always smiled…eventually I became very sick. I was about to die, but Lycoris gave up her own life to save me. I guess her mind was still lingering in my own…I never knew. But I always regretted the fact that Lycoris had to die for me to live."  
"It doesn't seem like she holds it against you," Kaede said.  
"Maybe not," Nerine said. "…But we have other things to focus on right now. We've eliminated all the Fiends; what's next?"  
Before anyone could answer, Mayumi and Kareha's crystals began to glow with darkness, and then they released an energy pulse that knocked down their bearers, merged into one sphere of darkness, and flew off into the sky. "What the heck was that?" Mayumi asked.  
"That's like what happened when the Fiends were created," Asa said. "But…there's no way…"  
"We purified our crystals…the Void energy had to go somewhere, right?" Sia said. The Warriors of Light broke into a run, hoping to reach their ship in time to catch up with what they feared was a new Fiend.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Kaede silently jumped from tree to tree, keeping an eye on the woman walking below: she looked like Kareha but with silver hair, and she had one red eye and one blue eye and wore pale yellow armor.  
_We're far enough from the town, and I don't think she's seen me,_ Kaede thought. She threw a shuriken, but it stopped a few feet from the woman and she turned and glared at Kaede. Kaede activated Slayer's Glory and warped to the ground just as a bolt of lightning hit the tree, and then the other Warriors of Light jumped out of their hiding places and Sia, Asa, and Nerine activated their enhanced forms.  
"Okay, so who the hell are you?" Mayumi asked.  
"We are Magne, Fiend of Metal and Lightning," the woman said, blades growing out of her hands.  
"How does that work exactly?" Asa asked.  
"The Void energy released by the Fiends of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water," Magne said. "Most of it vanished, but some of it made its way into the Crystals of Metal and Lightning. In the end there was not enough Void to create two Fiends, so the crystals merged into one and we were born."  
"…It's really confusing when you refer to yourself as 'we'," Sia said.  
"We don't care," Magne said, and then she electrified her blades and charged in.  
Mayumi managed to punch her out of it and grumbled, "I can't begin to tell you how much it pisses me off that my Fiend has larger breasts than me…"  
Sia and Asa ran in to attack Magne but she blocked and threw them back with lightning blasts, and Nerine applied buffs to the party while Kareha cast Flare, missing. Kaede phased through one of Magne's blades and willed an earth fist to rise out of the ground and punch her, and then Mayumi jumped up, kicked but missed, blocked a slash, but was then electrocuted and thrown to the ground. Sia launched a flame vortex that melted Magne's blades and Asa unleashed Wind Slash, and after Kareha cast Bio Magne created a large ball of lightning at threw it at the party. Kaede raised a wall of earth that protected them but was blown apart by the impact, and just as Mayumi focused Magne held out her arms and said, "Reverse Polarity."  
Mayumi, Sia, Asa, and Kaede were flung backwards while Nerine and Kareha were pulled towards Magne, who then slashed them and sent a thunder shockwave out at the others. Nerine doused Magne with water, causing the electricity on her blades to spread and stun her, and then Asa attacked with a Flare Spellblade and Sia made flames erupt all around Magne. Mayumi and Kaede jumped out and punched Magne from different sides, but when Kareha attempted to cast a spell Magne said, "Repel."  
The Warriors of Light were all flung away, even farther than last time, and after landing they looked up to see electrified knives flying at them. Mayumi used her Metal powers to stop the knives and then the others ran back towards Magne, but she dashed out and called thunderbolts down on all of them. Magne dodged flames and rocks but was swept away by a tidal wave, her electricity once again turning against her, and Asa said, "I think we figured out her weakness."  
Kareha absorbed a beam of lightning from Magne and then Mayumi kicked the Fiend down, and just as Asa was about to strike several blades rose from the ground around the Warriors of Light. Magne stood and said, "We may not have as much Void as the others, but we will defeat you. Neutralize."  
All of the party members wearing metal, which was everyone except for Kaede and Kareha, were immediately pinned to the ground, and Kaede dropped her knives as Kareha said, "So she really does have magnetic abilities…"  
Kaede raised four earth slabs around Magne and slammed her between them, freeing the others from her power, and before she could break free Kareha cast Flare, blowing the slabs to bits. The party looked carefully to see if Magne was gone, but after a few seconds she rose up and sent more blades after them. Mayumi maneuvered the assault and punched right through Magne's heart, but then the Fiend electrocuted her and said, "Your power alone cannot defeat us. We are no simple Fiend."  
She threw Mayumi aside and charged, and as Asa fended her off Nerine said, "She's the Fiend of both Metal and Lightning…Mayumi and Kareha need to attack in unison to defeat her."  
Kareha went to where Mayumi was and Magne started after her, but Sia used her hammer to knock the Fiend back and then threw an exploding fireball at her. Nerine healed the party and Kaede shot a rock at Magne, but their foe dodged and electrocuted them all. Magne looked in the direction she had thrown Mayumi but saw nothing, and turned around to find Mayumi and Kareha diving down at her, both holding onto a sword made with Mayumi's Metal power and electrified by Kareha. The blade pierced Magne and pulled her down to the earth, and as she began to evaporate she said, "Impossible…we were two crystals, combined by the Void…"  
"Perhaps there just wasn't enough Void to meld the crystals completely," Kareha said.  
"With the way you say 'we', that's probably the case," Mayumi said. Magne disappeared and Mayumi tossed the blade aside, and then the Crystals of Metal and Lightning appeared and said in unison:

_You have defeated your own darkness. You are now fit to wield your power to its fullest._

They became necklaces once more and their bearers transformed: Kareha became enveloped in an aura of lightning, and Mayumi's armor became darker and thicker, several spikes jutting out as red light covered her fists.  
"Okay; that HAS to be the last Fiend," Mayumi said. "Now we really can move on."

The Warriors of Light rested in a nearby town and then headed back for their ship early the next morning, a trip they estimated would take about two days. None of the wildlife they encountered proved any real threat, but about noon on their second day of traveling they emerged from a forest to find a Behemoth walking a bit of a ways off. They could see their ship not far past the beast, and Asa said, "The last time we fought one of those it didn't go well at all…but it's standing between us and our transportation."  
"We have Mayumi and Kareha this time, and we've all become a lot stronger," Sia said. "I bet we can take it this time."  
The others were of similar opinion, so the party walked out and the Behemoth spotted them and roared, and the Warriors of Light all drew their weapons and transformed: Kaede activated Slayer's Glory, Sia activated Burning Passion, Asa activated Knight's Soul, Nerine activated Supreme Sage, Mayumi activated Steel Strength, and Kareha activated Status Sparkplug. Bolts of lightning leapt from Kareha and struck the Behemoth, inflicting blindness, and when it swung its paw it passed right through Kaede and she smashed a boulder into its face. Sia hit it with her hammer and then attacked it with a huge flamethrower, and Asa activated a Flare Spellblade right before her sword hit and then Nerine formed a waterspout around it. The Behemoth landed and shook its head, its sight returning, but then Kareha put it to sleep and Mayumi jumped up, pulled back her fist, and then smashed it into the Behemoth's head with enough force to snap its neck.  
The party waited a minute before making sure it was really dead, and Kaede said, "Incredible…"  
"Well then…" Asa said. "Let's head back to Verbena. It's time we plan an attack on Yggdrasil."

_And so the Warriors of Light boarded their vessel and returned to Verbena once again. Their victory over the Behemoth is proof that their power has grown, but is it really enough to invade Yggdrasil and face Primula…?_

Primula looked up and said, "Magne has fallen…the Warriors of Light all carry purified crystals."  
"Excellent, Your Majesty!" Vitirus said. "Shall I go claim them for the Void?"  
"No; continue training your partner," Primula said. "I will go myself." She stood up and took a few steps, but then she paused, thought for a moment, and said, "No…I will send the First False Bearer."  
"…Your Majesty, I do not mean to question your judgment, but the First False Bearer has never been very stable," Vitirus said.  
"She is ideal for this mission," Primula said. "If her stability becomes an issue, I will handle it personally. Go and inform her of her mission."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Asa took a drink and sighed, glancing around the tavern and then kicking her feet up on the table. The search for the Fiends had taken the Warriors of Light far from Verbena, and after sailing for a week straight they were currently in a seaside town to stock up on supplies and spend one night on land.  
Nerine approached and asked, "Good evening, Asa-san. May I join you?"  
"Sure, take a seat!" Asa said. "Something on your mind?"  
"Yes, actually," Nerine said as she sat down. "I've been wondering for a while, but I never really had the chance to ask. If it's not too much…could you tell me about Sakura?"  
Asa paused for a minute, but then she put her feet down and said, "Sakura is Kaede's most powerful motivation…and her biggest regret. Kaede, Rin, and Sakura were friends practically since they were born, but one day Rin's parents and Kaede's parents went out on a mission for the village…they never came back. Rin began to live and train with the elders and Kaede moved in with Sakura, and that was when I first met them. The four of us, and Mayumi and Kareha, had a really close friendship for two years. But…just two."  
"What happened then?" Nerine asked.  
"Verbena was attacked," Asa said. "It was a horrible battle…the worst part is that we never even found out who they were. They just rushed in and laid waste to everything…I wish I could've done more, but I was only 8 at the time. Sakura's parents were among the casualties, and Sakura vanished—she stayed behind to buy Kaede time to escape. We were able to repel the invaders, but it was a tremendous loss. All of us began to train even harder than ever, especially Rin—the elders trained him so much that we never got to see him. And Kaede…she's been living on her own ever since she was 7. She wouldn't let anyone take her in, and she always believed that Sakura was still out there somewhere."  
"…What do you think?" Nerine asked.  
"…I really don't know," Asa said. "But Kaede has a fragile mind. I tried to get her to let go because if she searched the world for Sakura and didn't find her I didn't know what would happen to her. But after we fought Primula and she gave up hope, her desire to find Sakura was the only thing I could think of that could get her to hold on. Kaede's need to find Sakura is one of the things that defines her…she wants to find Rin too, of course, but she's been carrying around her longing for Sakura much longer. I think she's accepted that we need to stop the Void first, but afterwards she'll be gone in a heartbeat."  
"I see," Nerine said. "I'm sorry to bring up such bad memories."  
"Don't worry about it," Asa said. "If we're a team it helps to know each other's motives. Kaede really is a wonderful person, but there are some things that I'm not sure she'll ever work out…"

"Is that everything?" Sia asked.  
"Yeah, should be enough supplies to get us back to Verbena," Asa said. "Let's get moving; we're still a few days away."  
Kaede walked around the ship to make sure it was clear to leave, and then she headed back towards the boarding plank and was about to get on when she heard someone say, "Kaede…"  
She froze for a few seconds, but then she slowly turned around and saw a girl with black hair behind her, dressed in leather armor, carrying a crossbow, and smiling. "…Sakura…?" Kaede whispered.  
The girl nodded and said, "Yeah, it's me. Kaede, it's so good to finally see you again!"  
"…Sakura," Kaede repeated, slowly walking towards her. "…You're okay…you're here…"  
Sakura hugged Kaede and said, "I know, it's been a long time…I'm sorry."  
"No, I'm sorry," Kaede said. "I couldn't do anything to save you…"  
"It's okay, Kaede," Sakura said. "I don't blame you for what happened."  
"…Sakura," Kaede said, pulling away, "what are you doing here?"  
"Simple," Sakura said, drawing her crossbow and pointing it at Kaede. "I'm here to kill you."  
A powerful wind pulled Kaede away just as Sakura fired, the arrow burying itself in the side of the ship, and Asa slashed at Sakura but missed. "…Sakura…why?" Kaede asked.  
"I can sense Void in her," Asa said. "What's going on, Sakura? What happened to you?"  
The others had gathered on the docks by now, and Sakura said, "Good to see you too, sempai…well, after I was captured I was taken to Yggdrasil—those men who attacked Verbena were mercenaries hired by Queen Primula. The Crystal of Void had warned her that some of the Warriors of Light lived in Verbena, so she wanted them brought to her, but I was the only one they captured. Primula sensed that I had not been chosen by a crystal but thought I could still be useful…so she filled my heart with Void."  
"She brainwashed you," Nerine said.  
"Something like that," Sakura said. "I became the False Bearer of Void, and Primula had me train so that one day I could defeat the Warriors of Light and throw their crystals into the Void."  
"Wait…that was 10 years ago, and Primula seemed really young," Asa said.  
"Primula doesn't age," Sakura said. "She never told me why, of course, but anyway I have a mission to carry out." She raised her crossbow and the Warriors of Light all transformed, minus Kaede, and as Nerine buffed the party and status bolts from Kareha struck Sakura the sky grew dark.  
"Sakura, please don't do this!" Kaede cried.  
Sakura paid no attention as Asa swung at her, and she teleported out of the way and shot Asa with her crossbow. Sia swung and Sakura teleported, so she tried to catch her foe in a shower of flames, but Sakura teleported again, shot her, and then teleported away from Mayumi's attack.  
"She must be using the Void to teleport," Asa said. "Kaede, come on! We need to defeat her, and then maybe we can save her!"  
Kaede didn't respond even when Sakura shot her, and Asa created a vacuum to draw Sakura in and slashed, but Sakura teleported at the last second and arrows rained on the party. From the ship Sakura called, "You're really unprepared for this. I hope you didn't think you were ready to take on the REAL Bearer of Void."  
Mayumi jumped up and punched but Sakura teleported away, dodged a flamethrower, and then unloaded more arrows, and Kareha tried using Thundaga but Sakura opened a portal to swallow the spell. Nerine willed a geyser to erupt beneath Sakura and for a moment it appeared to hit, but then Sakura appeared right in front of Nerine, smashed her crossbow into her, fired an arrow in no particular direction that flew into a portal to the Void, and then another portal opened behind Kareha and the arrow emerged and struck her. Sakura teleported and prepared to attack again when Kaede, in Slayer's Glory, suddenly appeared in front of her and attacked, driving one of her knives into Sakura's shoulder.  
"…I didn't think you had it in you, Kaede," Sakura said.  
"I'll do anything to save you, Sakura…and I know this is the way to do it," Kaede said.  
Sakura teleported and fired, but Kaede teleported and stabbed, only for Sakura to teleport farther away and shoot an arrow through the Void, but the arrow passed through Kaede as she willed a pillar of earth to smash into Sakura. Asa used a wind blast to knock Sakura into a giant fireball, and then lightning chains wrapped around Sakura to paralyze her while a wave smashed her into a wall of metal. Sakura coughed and lifted her crossbow, but Mayumi leaped out and kicked with enough force to break the weapon and slam Sakura back into the metal wall.  
"Guess I can't use that anymore," Sakura said.  
"Now you can't attack us," Sia said.  
"Actually…Sakura's class is Summoner," Kareha said. "It's surprising she hasn't summoned any Spirits yet."  
"I didn't think I'd need to, but I guess I was wrong," Sakura said. "Before I could only summon Chocobos, but Primula tracked down some powerful Spirits and helped me defeat them, so now I can summon them as well."  
A green ball of energy with a flame in its center—a Summon Sphere—appeared in Sakura's hand, and the Warriors of Light all prepared themselves as she launched it into the sky and called, "Alexander! Divine Judgment!"  
A towering being covered in thick golden armor appeared behind Sakura, and it roared as the clouds above the party opened up and rained powerful beams of light down upon them, knocking all of them to the ground. As soon as Alexander departed Sakura created another Summon Sphere and threw it on the ground, saying, "Golem! Earth Wall!"  
A stout being made of rocks rose from the ground, and as the Warriors of Light got back to their feet the earth in front of Sakura shifted rapidly. Golem disappeared as Nerine started healing the party, and Sia said, "Looks like that one failed you."  
She lunged and swung her hammer but a wall of earth suddenly rose up to stop her, and Sakura smiled, used another Summon Sphere, and said, "Shiva! Diamond Dust!"  
A blizzard engulfed the Warriors of Light, and for a split second they saw an elegant white and blue figure float past them, and then they began to pull out Potions and Elixirs while Sakura summoned once again, this time saying, "Carbuncle! Ruby Light!"  
A small, green, rabbit-like creature with a bright red gem on its forehead appeared just long enough to create a magical shield around Sakura, and Asa said, "Well that's just great. Earth Wall nullifies physical attacks, and now all our magic will be reflected. Even Kareha's status bolts can't get through."  
"…Why isn't she attacking again?" Mayumi asked.  
"I think her MP is regenerating," Kareha said. "She must be pulling energy out of the Void to restore her power…and we have no way to stop her."  
"Actually, we do," Nerine said, casting Reflect on herself. "Magic can only be reflected once. Everyone, use your magic on me!"  
After brief hesitation Asa cast a tornado on Nerine, but the spell immediately backed away from Nerine and moved towards Sakura, sweeping her up just as Sia bounced a fireball of Nerine's shield. Kareha bounced Flare and Mayumi said, "Metal and Earth are more physical elements...they may not reflect."  
"Then give the others some Ethers," Kaede said as Nerine reflected disks of water. "I'll do something about Earth Wall." Mayumi nodded and distributed items, and Kaede reached out with her earth powers, immediately coming into conflict with Golem's will.  
_Maybe a Spirit is stronger than a human, but a crystal has to be stronger than a Spirit,_ Kaede thought.  
The Crystal of Earth shone brightly as Kaede focused its power, and Sakura cringed, created a Summon Sphere, and said, "Odin! Zantetsuken!"  
A warrior riding a horse materialized in front of Sakura, drew his sword, and charged through the Warriors of Light, doing immense damage, and Kaede quietly told the others, "It worked…Earth Wall is down."  
Nerine healed everyone and Mayumi, Asa, Sia, and Kaede rushed in and struck Sakura, who was also Silenced by one of Kareha's status bolts and poisoned with Bio, and as Ruby Light faded away the Warriors of Light passed around healing items to greatly restore their strength. "Sakura, please stay down," Asa said. "You must be running out of energy."  
"Hmhm," Sakura chuckled, creating a Summon Sphere. "I have just enough to end this…Bahamut! Megaflare!" A dragon descended from the sky, reared back, and unleashed an enormous burst of energy from its mouth, blowing away the Warriors of Light, and after it departed only Sia and Mayumi stood back up.  
"They're all knocked out…" Sia said.  
"Use a Phoenix Down on Nerine—she can cast Arise," Mayumi said, healing with Chakra. "I'll keep Sakura busy."  
Mayumi ran at Sakura, almost falling into a gateway to the Void, but she dodged and kicked Sakura before she could do anything. Sia used a Phoenix Down to revive Nerine, saying, "I'll finish healing you—just cast Arise on the others!"  
"Right…but to save time…" Nerine said, and as Sia used an Elixir on her she activated Supreme Sage. "This will let me cast it on everyone at once…Arise!"  
Kaede, Asa, and Kareha got back to their feet, and Asa said, "Thanks…if she's resorting to Bahamut she must be close to defeat."  
"I know how to finish this," Kaede said, activating Slayer's Glory. "Just leave it to me, and focus on your crystals."  
Sakura teleported away from Mayumi and prepared to summon, but then Kaede appeared in front of her and grabbed her. "Let go!" Sakura shouted, struggling but accomplishing nothing. "Get off of me, Kaede!"  
"Never!" Kaede yelled back. "I lost you for 10 years, Sakura—I'm not letting you go again! I never gave up hope for you, and now that you're here I'm not about to quit!"  
Sakura's eyes began to glow as she shouted, "You don't get it! My heart is filled with Void—I'll never return with you! I'm not your Sakura!"  
"Maybe," Kaede said, "but my Sakura can't be gone for good. I know it my heart that can't be true!"  
Sakura screamed as a sphere of Void energy surrounded her and Kaede, assaulting both of them with destructive currents but failing to loosen Kaede's grip. The Crystal of Earth lit up, and outside of the sphere the rest of the crystals began to shine as well, shooting beams of light that pierced the sphere and struck Sakura. Sakura continued to scream as Kaede hugged her closer, and Kaede whispered, "Sakura…come back."  
The Void energy then burst out in every direction, and both Kaede and Sakura collapsed on the ground.

When Kaede woke up she found herself lying in one of the beds on the ship, and she quickly sat up and looked around. She jumped to her feet and rushed onto the deck, seeing the others scattered around, and asked, "Where…?"  
Asa gestured towards the crow's nest, and Kaede scaled the mast to find Sakura sitting there, looking up as she arrived. "Sakura?" Kaede said. "Are you…?"  
"Yes," Sakura said, "I'm me again…"  
Kaede hugged Sakura and said, "I'm so glad…"  
"I'm sorry, Kaede," Sakura said, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm so sorry…I couldn't stop myself…I had no control at all…"  
"It's okay," Kaede said. "You're okay now." Sakura buried her face in Kaede's shoulder and sobbed, and Kaede held her close and tried not to cry herself.

Vitirus gathered his thoughts silently, but before he could speak Primula said, "You wish to know why I have done nothing, even though the First False Bearer has fallen."  
"O-only if you wish to explain, Your Majesty," Vitirus replied.  
"The Warriors of Light obviously still need more power," Primula said. "This latest battle has proven that their crystals will not yet give me the power I need…we will allow them a bit more time to grow. In the meantime, continue your work with the Second False Bearer. He is almost ready, and I already have a target selected."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"Welcome home," Asa said as they walked off the ship and into Verbena.  
Sakura smiled and said, "It's so nice to be back…"  
The party approached town hall and an elder came out to greet them, saying, "You've returned! I trust you were successful in…wait…Sakura?"  
"Hello, elder," Sakura said.  
"I can't believe it…" the elder said. "What happened to you?"  
"She had a run-in with Yggdrasil, but she's okay now," Asa said. "We ran into her on our way back from fighting the Fiends and brought her with us."  
"Excellent," the elder said. "We've been in contact with the King of Gods and the King of Demons, as well as a few other cities in our world, planning an assault on Yggdrasil. I will inform them of your return, and we can attack."  
"Actually, that may not be such a good idea," Nerine said. "We recently endured a very difficult battle, one that we almost lost, and Primula will certainly be a much stronger foe. We need more power before we can defeat the Void."  
"I see…" the elder said. "…Well, someone came here just the other day looking for you—perhaps she has some information that will help. Come with me."  
The elder led them into town hall and to the 'hospital' chamber, which was empty save for one person: a female god with purple hair was lying in one bed, unconscious, and she wore gray and white armor, a gray cape, and a piece of metal on her brow that resembled a crown. "She showed up outside the town exhausted and injured, asked for the Warriors of Light, and she's been out ever since," the elder said. "We were going to treat her, but she healed on her own. She was carrying this."  
He picked up a scythe with a blade on each end, facing different directions so that the weapon resembled an 'S', and Sia said, "A Wheel Scythe…they're only made in Mysidia."  
"The village of mages in the World of Gods?" Kareha said. "Why did she come all the way here?"  
Mayumi walked over to the girl and examined her, and then she said, "Hold on…look at this!" A pink crystal hung from the girl's neck, and as the others approached a spark leapt from the Crystal of Metal to the pink crystal and the girl suddenly woke up.  
"Huh…? Where am I?" the girl asked, sitting up and looking around. "Who are…Lisianthus-sama! You're here! So, the rest of you…"  
"We're the Warriors of Light," Asa answered. "You're in Verbena town hall. How are you feeling?"  
"I'm fine," the girl said, "I went into stasis so I could heal…but, ah, anyway, it's an honor to meet all of you! I'm Daisy, from Mysidia, and I'm the Bearer of Psionics. I found something that I thought might help you—not that you need help, of course! I just thought…I mean…"  
"Calm down," Nerine said. "What is it that you wanted to share with us?"  
"Right…sorry," Daisy said. "Well, I was doing some research a while back, and I came across this old legend. Apparently there's an ancient city called Lufenia far to the north of here, cut off from the rest of the world, and the inhabitants guard a temple that contains powerful magic. Anyone who enters the temple will face a trial, but if they succeed they'll be rewarded with a weapon that can slay any foe…an Ultima Weapon."  
"Ultima Weapon…" the elder repeated. "That's mentioned in a few of the stories I've heard. They've been used by the greatest heroes of all three worlds, but I could never find out how they were obtained."  
"This could be just what we need to defeat the Void," Kaede said. "Daisy-san, do you know the exact location of Lufenia?"  
"It was kind of vague, but I have a general location," Daisy said. "If you'll allow me, I'd be happy to take you there."  
"Sounds good," Asa said. "What do you guys think?" The others had no complaints, so Asa said, "Okay then, Daisy, welcome to the Warriors of Light!"  
"Warrior…oh, no, you don't have to do that!" Daisy said. "Really, I'm fine with just being a guide! I don't want to hold you back!"  
"We need all the help we can get, and another crystal is a lot of help," Asa said. "Your decision, of course; give it some thought. Just let us know when you're ready to go."  
"I'm ready whenever you're ready," Daisy said. "I'm fully rested and have everything I need."  
"Okay…will three hours be good?" Asa asked.  
Everyone agreed and went their separate ways, and the elder asked Daisy, "If I may: were you in some kind of battle? You looked badly injured when you arrived."  
"I ran into someone who must have been working with Yggdrasil," Daisy said. "He was a Red Mage with a heart full of Void…I was barely able to defeat him, and he ran away."  
Meanwhile, Kaede was leading Sakura back towards her house and said, "We'll be as quick as we can. You'll be safe here."  
"I'm coming with you," Sakura said. "I want to help you defeat the Void."  
"Sakura, I don't want you to get involved in this," Kaede said.  
"I already am," Sakura said. "Primula infused me with Void, and I did some horrible things. I want to try and make up for them. Besides, everyone knows Summoners make things easier, and we're hard to find these days."  
"…Sakura," Kaede said.  
"I'm not changing my mind," Sakura said. "Before we leave I need to go get something…my parents told me that if I ever became a master Summoner there was a technique I could learn, and they hid it in a book under our house. Will you help me get it?"  
Kaede hesitated, but after a little while she said, "Alright…I'll do it for you, Sakura-chan."

Three hours later everyone gathered back at town hall, and Asa said, "Okay, let's go. Elder, we'll return as soon as we can, and then maybe we'll be able to make our attack."  
They were about to leave when a strange feeling filled the air, and Nerine said, "Someone's trying to break the protective spell over the town."  
The party rushed to the town gate and went into the field just outside the spell's boundaries, and Nerine said, "They should be right here…"  
"Ah, it's him!" Daisy said. "He's the one who attacked me on my way here!"  
The Warriors of Light turned and readied their weapons, but as they saw the approaching figure they froze…for the one they faced was Rin Tsuchimi. "Rin-kun?" Sakura asked. "…No…he's…"  
"The Second False Bearer of Void," Vitirus said as he walked up behind Rin. "He progressed much more quickly than you did, so Her Majesty sent him to capture the Crystal of Psionics before it reached Verbena."  
"You were more powerful than I expected, so I got back-up," Rin said. "Good thing, too…it looks like you went and joined the Warriors of Light."  
"…Rin-kun…you too?" Kaede said.  
"Is he someone you know?" Daisy asked.  
"He's an old friend who was swallowed by the Void when all this started," Asa said. "Now he's been brainwashed…"  
Vitirus and Rin both drew their swords, and Mayumi said, "And this guy again…don't you ever quit?"  
"You have no idea," Sia said.  
Vitirus swung his sword and sent out an energy shockwave and Rin cast Blizzaga, but the Warriors of Light dodged and Daisy spun her Wheel Scythe so fast it became a blur, and then it floated out of her hand, flew out, and attacked Rin on its own.  
"Telekinesis…nice," Asa said, creating a Flare Spellblade.  
Mayumi used her Metal powers to make Vitirus's armor constrict, but a gateway to the Void opened behind her and released an energy beam. "We stored some attacks in the Void before coming here," Rin said.  
Sakura threw out a Summon Sphere and called, "Ifrit! Hellfire!"  
A red horned monster rose out of the ground and breathed a wall of fire on Rin and Vitirus, and once it disappeared they both charged in and attacked. Kaede blocked Rin's sword and Kareha cast Flare on him, and Rin said, "You're keeping it together surprisingly well."  
"We got Sakura-chan back from the Void," Kaede said. "I know that we can get your back too."  
Nerine unleashed a powerful blast of water and Vitirus held his ground, but just as he was about to attack again Daisy turned toward him and held out his hand, and Vitirus then turned and attacked thin air. "Weak minds are easy to throw into illusion," Daisy said, and then she saw Rin approaching, caught his blade, and hit him back with a Goblin Punch.  
"Daisy, what's your class again?" Asa asked.  
"I'm a Freelancer," Daisy said. "I've been able to master a few different classes, so I figured I'd just use them all at once."  
Rin looked over at Vitirus, still in an illusion, and dodged as best he could while opening the Void to unleash an attack. However, Sakura saw the portal opening and reached out with what remained of her Void powers, slamming the gateway closed before it could attack.  
_She still has a link with the Void?_ Rin thought. _That's unexpected…and now that the Bearer of Psionics is with them they're even more powerful. And that idiot Vitirus…I think we need to make a tactical retreat.  
_"We won't let you get away!" Daisy said, rushing in and attacking with her Wheel Scythe.  
_Blasted telepathy,_ Rin thought as he defended himself.  
Daisy unleashed a bolt of mental energy that made Rin stumble and drop his sword, but suddenly a shadow fell over the battlefield and a loud noise could be heard from above. The combatants all looked up to see a large airship flying over them, and the craft came to a halt directly above and a rope ladder fell into their midst. Seeing an opportunity, Rin quickly jumped into the Void and drew Vitirus in as well, and Daisy said, "Great…"  
"Hey, isn't that Cid?" Sia said.  
Sure enough, Cid was climbing down the ladder from the airship, and when he got to the ground Asa asked, "Cid? What are you doing here? And how'd you get an airship?"  
"I found the schematics in that chest where the Crystal of Wind was," Cid said. "Sorry it took me so long to build it, but I had some difficulty finding material. Anyway, you'll probably get more use out of it than me, so I flew here to hand it over to you."  
"It's incredible…" Kareha said.  
"Now we can reach Lufenia even faster," Nerine said.  
"Lufenia?" Cid repeated. "You're going there?"  
"The elder can explain—we need to get going," Asa said. "Thanks for the airship, Cid; it's going to be real useful! Warriors of Light, let's move out! Lufenia awaits!"

_While they may not have freed Rin from the Void, the Warriors of Light are now more determined than ever to complete their quest. Boarding their new airship they fly towards Lufenia, but what are these trials that await them…?_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Kaede walked into the control room of the airship and looked around, seeing that the others had all gathered already, and said, "I'm sorry—I was in the training room when I heard the message we'd be landing soon."  
Daisy was staring out the window at the water below, and said, "It should be right about…"  
On the horizon appeared a small island with mountains lining every inch of its shore, and Daisy shouted, "There! That's Lufenia!"  
"Hope there's a place to land beyond those mountains," Asa said, pulling a lever to slow the airship as it moved towards the island.  
She spun the wheel to maneuver the craft through the peaks and spotted an open field just inside, so she slowly descended and landed the airship gently on the ground, and Daisy said, "The town's not far away—I can sense the minds of the Lufenians. We should ask them where the temple is."  
The party gathered their supplies and exited the airship, and after a short walk they encountered three robed men—one human, one god, and one demon. The human opened his mouth and spoke to them, but it was in an odd language that none of them could understand and nothing but silence followed.  
"Um…I'm sorry, we don't speak your language," Asa said. The god muttered something, and then Daisy surprised everyone and replied in the strange language, gesturing to the others and bowing.  
"You understand them?" Sakura asked.  
"They allowed me to read the portion of their mind necessary for communication," Daisy said.  
The demon spoke up and Daisy translated, "He says he recognizes the design of our airship, and finds it odd—apparently the design was used by a race now extinct. He also wants to know why we're here."  
She gave her reply, the only term the rest of the party could make out being "Ultima Weapon," and the god narrowed his eyes and said something that sounded almost threatening. Daisy held up her crystal and the others did the same as she explained their intentions, and after a brief pause the human bowed slightly and began speaking.  
"He wants to welcome us to Lufenia," Daisy interpreted. "The human's name is Khadaz, the god is Solenma, and the demon is Vantroz—they're the leaders of Lufenia and came to meet us when they saw our airship. They can take us to the temple, but it's up to the guardians to decide if we can go in or not."  
The trio turned and led the party through a line of trees and they found themselves in a large town with a multitude of stone buildings, an ornate temple rising from the center, and Sia asked, "How did we not see this when we flew in?"  
"They probably used a spell to keep it hidden," Nerine said.  
When they reached the temple gate the group came to a halt, and Vantroz shouted something at the temple, bowed to the Warriors of Light, and departed along with Solenma. A furry white creature with wings and a red pom-pom on its head appeared in the temple doorway and descended the stairs, and Khadaz waved a hand towards the party and spoke to the creature.  
"It's a Moogle, a guardian and caretaker of the temple," Daisy said. "Khadaz is telling it that we have crystals and came for Ultima Weapons."  
The Moogle examined the party and then nodded at Khadaz, prompting him to leave, and then the Moogle asked, "This is your native language, right kupo?"  
"Yeah, it is," Asa said. "So, can we get into the temple?"  
"Why do you want Ultima Weapons, kupo?" the Moogle asked.  
"To defeat the Void," Asa answered. "We're the Warriors of Light, but I'm worried we might not be strong enough right now…and we don't know how much more time we have. If we had Ultima Weapons we'd have a much better chance of fulfilling our destiny."  
"Hm…I see, kupo," the Moogle said. "You do know what you'll be facing? The temple will put you through a trial born from your worst fears, kupo."  
"We're not going to have to fight giant spiders, are we?" Sia asked.  
"Or Cactaurs?" Daisy asked. The others gave her a look, and she said, "What? They scare me! Have you ever been hit with 1000 Needles?"  
"I don't know what your trials will entail, kupo," the Moogle said. "What I do know is that each of you will face them alone. Do you still want to enter the temple?"  
The Warriors of Light exchanged nods with each other and turned to the Moogle, who said, "Okay then—follow me, kupo."  
He led them up the stairs and into the temple, and the party found themselves in a large hall filled with engraved pillars, shields on the wall, and several artifacts on display. At the end of this hallway was a door, and through the door was a small room with a green pillar of light in the center.  
"Step into the light and face your trial, kupo," the Moogle said. One by one the girls entered the light, and the Moogle sat down and waited.

Sia opened her eyes and tried to look around, but for some reason she couldn't.  
_What's going on?_ she thought.  
Suddenly her view moved, as if she were getting up and walking across the room, and from just below her line of sight a hand reached out and opened a door to produce a path out into a stairwell.  
_I'm not in control of my body…_ Sia thought as she watched the stairwell go by. _This place looks familiar, though. Where…?  
_The view then became a hall that led right into a large chamber with several thrones at the end, and Sia's father, Eustoma King of Gods, sat in one.  
_Dad?_ Sia thought. _Then this is our castle…why am I back here?  
_"Good morning, Kikyou," Eustoma greeted.  
"Morning," Sia felt herself say, and then she realized what was going on.  
..._This is what it would be like if Kikyou and I had traded places,_ she thought. _This is what Kikyou goes through, watching the world go by through someone else's eyes.  
_Sia watched Kikyou go about a normal day, and every minute she couldn't stand her situation, a thought made worse by the fact that it was what she had subjected her sister to for 17 years. She had never truly understood what life had been like for Kikyou, and now that she knew she saw this situation as fitting punishment for her own deeds. At the end of the day Kikyou went up to her room and stared in the mirror, saying, "I've had this sad feeling all day…what's wrong?"  
"…I'm sorry," Sia replied. "I just…I'm sorry…"  
"You don't have to apologize," Kikyou said. "Just let me know what I can do."  
"Nothing," Sia said. "There's nothing you can do…"  
Kikyou paused for a moment, and then she said, "Can you just tell me what's going on? We're sisters—we're supposed to look out for each other."  
"Just forget about it," Sia said. "Forget about me…"  
"No way in hell!" Kikyou said. "I could never forget about you—I won't let it happen! That's why I absorbed your soul: you deserve to live just as much as I do!"  
"This isn't living," Sia said. "I know you had good intentions, but this point of view in unbearable. Being stored in someone else's body…"  
"...Then we'll get you out," Kikyou said. "Maybe it won't make up for the suffering, but it's a start."  
"What's the point?" Sia asked. "I've already missed out on so much."  
"Come on, you have your whole life ahead of you," Kikyou said. "Trust me, it'll be much better. It's what I would want if our situation was reversed."  
Sia said nothing at first, but then she said, "That's it, isn't it? This is you telling me what you want."  
Kikyou smiled and said, "I was beginning to wonder when you'd catch on."  
"I'm so sorry, Kikyou," Sia said.  
"Don't apologize," Kikyou said. "It might not have been easy up to this point, but with that spell to separate us I get a second chance at life…and it's all thanks to you. So don't go dying on me, okay?"  
"…Okay, Kikyou," Sia said. "I promise."

Nerine looked at the forest around her, trying to figure out which way to go, when she heard sounds of battle up ahead. She pushed through the trees and came out into a clearing, and the she froze. Sia, Asa, Kaede, Mayumi, and Kareha all lay on the ground, dead, and over them stood Lycoris.  
"Thank you, Nerine," Lycoris said. "I wouldn't have been able to lure them our here without your help."  
"…But you…Lycoris…" Nerine murmured.  
"I am a Fiend, a manifestation of your darkest traits," Lycoris said. "You were foolish to trust me, Nerine, and your friends paid the price."  
"No…I can revive them," Nerine said, but then she was swept away by a powerful wave.  
"Not so fast," Lycoris said, walking towards her. "You see, to insure my immortality I need to kill you too."  
Nerine raised her staff and Lycoris laughed, "Haha! You're going to stop me? How ungrateful. I gave my life to save yours, Nerine—it's time you return the favor."  
A disk of water sliced through Nerine's shoulder, and she fell to the ground and said, "…That's true…"  
"Everyone thought your life was more important than mine…even you," Lycoris said.  
"No," Nerine protested, "I—"  
"Admit it!" Lycoris shouted, casting Ruinga on Nerine. "You never even knew my consciousness was still there! You didn't really intend to separate us with that spell! This time I'm going to take back what I gave you!"  
She blasted Nerine back, and Nerine coughed and gasped for air as she thought, _…Is she right? I never even knew she was there…why is that? Perhaps I'm not the one who deserves to live…  
_"You're weak," Lycoris said, creating another disk of water. Nerine looked down and closed her eyes, but just as Lycoris prepared to attack Nerine attacked with Firaga and got back to her feet.  
"Now I get it," Nerine said. "This trial—it's just an illusion. The reason this is happening is because of my guilt…I've always felt so guilty about the fact that you sacrificed yourself for me."  
"…Sharp as a tack," Lycoris said.  
"It was Lycoris's decision to save me," Nerine said. "And I will give her back her life, but not like this—she didn't want to be a Fiend, to constantly worry about falling into the Void. I'm going to get out of here, defeat the Void, and then restore Lycoris."  
"…Very well," Lycoris said, and then she disappeared.

Kaede stepped onto the ship and spotted Sakura, thinking, _That's strange…the Moogle said we would be alone.  
_She walked towards Sakura and put a hand on her shoulder, but suddenly Sakura threw hr away and took out her crossbow. "Sakura-chan…?" Kaede said. "No…we freed you."  
"Nothing can be free from the Void," Sakura said, and then a portal to the Void opened up behind her. "Nothing at all…because the Void is nothing."  
She stepped into the Void and Kaede shouted, "Sakura!"  
"You know it's the truth, Kaede," said a voice, and she turned to see Rin behind her. "There is no way to escape it. The Void will consume everything."  
Another gateway to the Void opened and Rin stepped through it, and Kaede turned to see Asa and the others coming up on deck. "Asa-sempai, we have to do something!" Kaede said.  
"…What's the point?" Asa asked. "No matter what we do, the Void just keeps getting in our way. We can't stop it, so…why even bother?"  
A third gateway opened to swallow them, and Kaede screamed, "No! No, this can't be happening!"  
"And why not?" echoed a voice from the portals. Primula stepped out of thin air and said, "This is the truth. The Void shall claim everything."  
"No…" Kaede whispered, falling to her knees. "Everyone I care about…they keep falling into the Void…"  
"You can't save them," Primula said. "You are powerless to stop the Void. You will have everything taken from you, and then you too shall be destroyed."  
"Why are you doing this?" Kaede asked. "Why is the Void trying to consume everything?"  
"That is its nature," Primula replied. "The Void exists to destroy creation, to revert existence to nothingness. You can't destroy it…how could you possibly destroy nothing?"  
"…Maybe we don't have to destroy it," Kaede said. "But I'm going to rescue my friends from it!"  
She jumped into the Void and found herself in a world of darkness, small bits of light and fragment of broken objects all around her, and she desperately looked around for the others. "You won't find them," Primula said, appearing next to her. "Even if their hearts are strong enough to keep them from breaking apart, even if they don't encounter the monsters who cross the Void…do you feel the current, pushing you in every direction at once? It will fling you across the Void in an instant, throwing you out of a random portal. Your friends have already been scattered."  
"I will find them," Kaede said, her crystal twinkling briefly. "The Void doesn't scare me…no matter how long I have to search I will find my friends, and we'll all be together again."  
"…Have you truly overcome your fear of the Void?" Primula asked. Kaede gave her a look of determination and she continued, "Yes, you have…then success is yours."  
"…Rimu-chan, come with me," Kaede said.  
"I'm not the real Primula, just a projection created by the temple," Primula said. "You should hurry back—your friends are waiting."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Asa sat up and stretched, and a confused look crossed her face as she found herself in a field with the other Warriors of Light nearby. "Oh, you're awake," Daisy said. "Have you made your decision?"  
"What decision?" Asa asked as she stood up.  
"If we should go in," Nerine said, pointing towards a cave just ahead. "There's a powerful energy coming from it, and we might find something to use against the Void."  
"Oh…sure, let's check it out," Asa said, and then she led the party into the cave. It soon grew dark so Sia created a fireball to light the way, and after walking for several minutes they came upon a dead end. "That's weird," Asa said. "Where—"  
Daisy suddenly screamed and the others turned only to find she had vanished, and they drew their weapons as Asa called, "Daisy? Where are you?"  
She heard a swiping sound behind her and turned to see Nerine, Sakura, Mayumi, and Kaede on the ground, and then she called, "Is someone there?"  
Sia increased the size of her fireball to create more light, but a hand then reached out, grabbed her, and pulled her back, causing the fire to go out. "Damn…Kareha, are you still with me?" Asa asked.  
"Yes," Kareha said. "Asa, maybe we should get out—"  
She stopped short and Asa said, "Kareha…? Are you alright?"  
A torch on the wall suddenly blazed to life, revealing Vitirus with his sword piercing Kareha's heart, and the general tossed her aside and said, "No, I don't think she is."  
"Wh…what did you do?" Asa shouted, casting a Holy Spellblade.  
"I killed them," Vitirus said. "But why focus on me? What you did was just as important."  
"What do you mean?" Asa asked.  
"You were the one who led them in here," Vitirus said. "You led your friends into an ambush, and now they're all dead. Now they can't use their crystals to stop the Void. You just doomed the entire world with your poor leadership."  
Asa silently lowered her sword, the Spellblade deactivating, and then she said, "…This is my fault…"  
She dropped her sword and looked at her friends, and Vitirus said, "Well done, Bearer of Wind. At this point I see no reason to kill you…farewell."  
Vitirus walked out of the cave, leaving Asa alone with the corpses of the other Warriors of Light. She sat down against the cave wall and put her head in her hands, muttering, "I failed them. I failed the whole world…"  
She took out a Phoenix Down and tried to use it, accomplishing nothing, and said, "How did this happen? Am I really just a terrible leader…?" Asa looked up at the torch, tears forming in her eyes, and just sat there for a minute. Eventually, though, she said, "Wait…I'm still in the temple. This whole thing…is it just an illusion?"  
No response came, and she continued, "I think I get it…this is what I'm most afraid of: being a bad leader and causing something tragic. I don't like to think about it, but…what WOULD I do in a situation like this?"  
There was still no reply, so Asa sighed and stood up. "…Well firs of all, they wouldn't go down that easily—not against Vitirus at least. Second, a Phoenix Down probably would work… but it not…I guess there wouldn't be anything I could do." She paused before adding, "I did my best…they did their best…should we really regret that? I guess there are some things you just don't have any control over."  
"But you can control how you respond to them," Vitirus said as he re-entered the chamber. "There are some situations you can't walk away from unscathed."  
"…If we try our best, though, maybe that'll give us some peace," Asa said. "Everyone trusts me to lead them…so I'll do my best to live up to that."

Mayumi walked into town, seeing several people along the side of the street, but then they all went inside and left the street deserted. Paying it no mind Mayumi continued and ended up near Kaede's house, and Kaede came out, saw her, and froze.  
"Hey Kaede," Mayumi said. "Where is everyone?"  
"Um…I don't know," Kaede said.  
"Huh…still not sure what I'm supposed to do," Mayumi said, raising her arm and seeing Kaede flinch. "…Something wrong?"  
"N…no," Kaede said. "Um…please excuse me!"  
She ran off and Mayumi said, "Was she…scared of me?"  
Mayumi turned to see Sakura walking by and went to greet her, but Sakura took a step back and said, "What do you want?"  
"What…?" Mayumi said. "Sakura, it's me, Mayumi."  
"I know who you are," Sakura said. "We stopped the Void together."  
"…We stopped it?" Mayumi repeated. "When did that happen? How long have I—"  
"Stay back!" Sakura said.  
"…Is everyone afraid of me?" Mayumi asked.  
"Well…yes," Sakura said. "We stopped the Void, but you couldn't stop fighting. You just kept getting more and more violent, and then…what you did to Sia…"  
"What?" Mayumi asked. "What did I do? I'd never hurt one of you!"  
"Liar!" Sakura said, drawing her crossbow. "I don't have to be afraid of you—Golem can protect me from your attacks."  
"I'm not trying to pick a fight!" Mayumi said, but Sakura didn't even blink. Mayumi sighed and walked away, thinking, _What's wrong with her? Maybe I'm a little violent, but I'd never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it…right?  
_She looked down a street that instantly emptied, and then she said to herself, "…This isn't real, but…what if it's the future? What if I really do become so violent I scare everyone off?"  
Mayumi sat down on a rock and slipped the Crystal of Metal off her neck, turning it around in her hands. She then set it on the ground, removed her gauntlets, and looked at her hands and said, "Come to think of it, when was the last time I took my gauntlets off? There's no reason for me to wear them while we're in town or on the airship…and I guess I have been…enjoying all this…in a weird way…"  
She hung her head and said, "What if I can't adjust back to a normal life? I don't want to alienate everyone."  
"…What's with you today?" Sakura asked. Mayumi looked up as she continued, "It's like you have amnesia…like you're the old Mayumi."  
"…Guess I just finally realized what I've become," Mayumi said. "I'm sorry for whatever I've done…maybe I should get out of town. There's probably something out there I can vent my rage on…or maybe anger management is really my only option."  
"…Really?" Sakura said. "Well…good. Let me know how it goes…I guess…"  
Sakura walked off and Mayumi paused for a moment, and then she thought, _If it does become an issue, I'll do all I can to resolve it. If my friends will give me a second chance…no, they won't have to. I'll get this under control before it causes a problem, whatever it takes._

Kareha popped out from behind her cover just long enough to hurl a ball of lightning, successfully hitting her attackers, and then they returned fire. "My, they just don't give up," Kareha said, casting Bio.  
Her foes stumbled, hesitated, and ran towards a nearby house, so Kareha cast Flare to scatter them and blow the building apart, and she walked forward and surveyed the scene. The men who had attacked her all lay unconscious on the ground, and she was about to walk away when she noticed an additional figure on the ground and stopped dead in her tracks.  
"…Tsubomi?" she said, approaching her unmoving sister. "Oh no…no, this can't…"  
Kareha knelt down and said, "Tsubomi, wake up! Please! I…I…this is my fault…"  
She sat down on the ground and fought back tears, thinking, _Why…? Why couldn't I have been a White Mage, like I always wanted? After the attack ten years ago I thought we needed more power to defend ourselves…so I learned Black Magic. That was stupid of me…I should've stayed with White Magic. Now I've lost control and hurt Tsubomi, and there's nothing I can do.  
_She stroked Tsubomi's hair and said, "I've had it with Black Magic…worrying if I can control it. As soon as I get the chance I'm going to learn White Magic, and then something like this will never happen again."  
Tsubomi stirred then, and Kareha jumped and said, "Tsubomi?"  
"Hm…not really," Tsubomi said as she sat up. "You're still in the temple, remember?"  
"…So this is all an illusion to get me to give up Black Magic?" Kareha asked.  
"Black Magic is not evil, but you fear it and it's not where your true talents lie," Tsubomi said. "But now you've endured your fear and found resolve—you have passed your trial. Now come; we have a very special weapon for you."

Sakura sighed and put a hand to her forehead, and Kaede asked, "Are you alright, Sakura-chan?"  
"I feel a little sick," Sakura said.  
"There's a town just up ahead—can you make it there?" Asa asked.  
"Yes, I should be able to," Sakura said. She, Asa, and Kaede continued down the path, and Sakura thought, _What did I catch? I don't remember eating anything weird or—  
_A sharp pain shot through her body and she fell to her knees, and Asa and Kaede came to her side, the former asking, "What's wrong?"  
"…No…" Sakura said, a familiar feeling creeping through her limbs. "No, stay back! Get out of here!"  
"What are you talking about?" Asa asked. Suddenly Sakura grabbed her crossbow, used it to knock Asa down, and then stood up and shot an arrow into Asa's heart.  
"Sakura?" Kaede exclaimed.  
"No…I can't control it," Sakura said, moving towards Asa and stomping on her ribcage.  
"I see…" Asa said. "This was all a trick…"  
"That's not it, I swear!" Sakura said, a portal to the Void opening beneath Asa and swallowing her up.  
"Asa-sempai!" Kaede called as the gateway closed. "Sakura, what are you doing?"  
"It's not me!" Sakura said. "I can't control my body; you have to get away from me!"  
She began firing arrows so Kaede dodged, and Sakura thought, _I was afraid of this. There's still Void in my hearts, and now it's taken over. I'm not in control again, and now…why?  
_Kaede made the earth rise up around Sakura but she teleported behind Kaede and wrapped an arm around her neck, choking her and pressing her crossbow against her body. "S…Sakura…" Kaede said.  
"Kaede…I'm so sorry," Sakura said, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I'm not in control…I'm sorry…"  
"F…fight it," Kaede said. "I know…you can…"  
Sakura slammed Kaede into a tree, still holding her by the neck, and a portal to the Void opened up behind her. "No!" Sakura shouted. "Not Kaede! I won't…I won't let you keep hurting her!"  
She took a step towards the Void and paused, shaking, staring at Kaede with tears in her eyes. "I…I won't be your puppet anymore," Sakura said, clenching her teeth. "You might still be in my heart…but it's MY heart! You can't control me now…I control you!"  
The gateway closed, Sakura's body went limp, and both she and Kaede fell to the ground breathing heavily. Sakura's hand twitched, a test to make sure it would follow her orders, and upon finding she was back in control she let out a deep sigh of relief. Kaede pulled herself over to Sakura, and Sakura said, "Kaede…I'm sorry."  
"You won," Kaede said. "All this time you've been afraid of the Void that remains in your heart, but now you have gained control over it."  
Sakura paused before asking, "You're not the real Kaede, are you?"  
"No, I'm not," Kaede said. "And that wasn't the real Asa either, so you have nothing to worry about. Get up—your trial is over."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Daisy walked through Mysidia and asked, "Why am I back here? Is this my trial?"  
She looked about to try and find some hint towards what she was supposed to do when she noticed a young girl with purple hair walking towards the center of town, accompanied by a tall old man.  
"…Is that me?" Daisy wondered aloud. She followed the girl towards a large building, passing right by the guards, and inside she saw five gods sitting on mats at the far end of the room: a female White Mage, a male Black Mage, a female Red Mage, a male Blue Mage, and a female Time Mage.  
"Thank you for coming, Daisy," the Red Mage said.  
"What's going on?" Daisy asked.  
"You must be wondering why we brought you here," the Red Mage said, continuing as if she hadn't heard Daisy, her eyes trained on the young girl.  
"I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" the girl asked.  
"No, nothing like that," the Blue Mage said. "We want to talk to you about your training."  
Daisy said, "Wait a minute…I remember now…"  
"It is no secret, Daisy, that despite your young age you have now mastered Time Magic," the Time Mage said. "Your progress is truly astounding."  
"But now you have hit a wall," the Black Mage said. "You have learned as much as you can as a Time Mage…but you still have much untapped potential."  
"Daisy…we asked you here to give you an offer," the White Mage said. "Would you like to change classes and learn new skills?"  
"This is the day I became a Knight," Daisy said. "My first class change. So that is me standing over there…but why am I watching this again?"  
"Change…?" repeated the Daisy of the past. "Um…would I still be able to use Time Magic?"  
"Yes, but while in another class it will not be as powerful," the Red Mage said. "With every class you explore you will gain new abilities, and we sense that you may one day be able to master many different classes…perhaps even enough to become an efficient Freelancer."  
"The choice is yours," the Blue Mage said. "Would you like time to think it over?"  
"…No, that won't be necessary," Past Daisy said.  
The Daisy of the present then closed her eyes and, in perfect rhythm with her younger counterpart, said, "I'll do it. Make me a Knight."  
Present Daisy opened her eyes again to find herself in a field on the outskirts of town, standing a few feet away from an image of herself from just two years ago wearing a very small dress. She blushed and chuckled, "Ahaha…I guess I did show off a little too much skin when I was a Dancer…"  
Past Daisy was talking to a short woman with black hair—Erica, the most powerful Sage in Mysidia, who said, "I must say I'm impressed, Daisy. On top of your initial Time Mage class you've mastered 10 classes within 5 years."  
"Thank you, Erica-sama," Past Daisy said. "I could not have done it without your advice."  
"That's true," Erica said. "We should probably head back before it gets too late."  
"I remember this day," Present Daisy said as she followed them back towards Mysidia. "A Gigantaur attacked the town and kidnapped some of our leaders. Erica stayed behind to take care of the townspeople and I took on the Freelancer class for the first time."  
She watched these events play out up to the point where she grabbed a Wheel Scythe from the armory, and then the scene shifted to her battle with the Gigantaur. "I thought 1000 Needles was bad, but 10000 Needles?" Past Daisy said, breathing heavily.  
The Gigantaur prepared to attack so Daisy spun her scythe and lashed out, slicing through the creature's leg, and then she cast Firaga, barely dodged its counterattack, and used Gaia to drop a stalactite on it. Past Daisy poked the Gigantaur to make sure it was dead and a bright pink light filled the chamber, and then a pink crystal rose out of the ground before Past Daisy.

_You have proven yourself worthy. Take my power, and your mind will become your most valuable tool._

"Nobody knew the Crystal of Psionics was so close," Present Daisy said as the scene shifted back to the council chamber.  
"An Elemental Crystal? Here?" the Red Mage said. "I thought they were only found in the human world…"  
"Has the crystal told you anything?" the Blue Mage asked. "Maybe given you some hint as to what it wants you to accomplish?"  
"All it said was that I had 'proven myself worthy' and that it would give me power," Past Daisy said.  
"I see…" the Time Mage said. "You should train to properly harness the crystal's power. There's no further need for you to master classes, and Psionics can be a very difficult element to use."  
"We must inform the King of this development," the Black Mage said.  
"Yeah, yeah," Present Daisy mumbled. "I've already seen all this. What's the point?"  
The world warped around her and she watched herself walk back into the council chamber, although she knew from memory that this was a year after the last scene. "You have done well, Daisy," the White Mage said. "You have mastered the abilities of your crystal…so now…"  
She hesitated, so the Black Mage picked up, "We want to offer you the opportunity to purify the Crystal of Psionics and unlock its true power."  
"Purify…? What do you mean?" Past Daisy asked.  
"When an Elemental Crystal that has already found its bearer is cast into the Void, it becomes what is known as a Fiend," the Time Mage explained. "When the bearer defeats the Fiend, the crystal returns to the bearer and grants them even greater power than before."  
"But this is extremely dangerous," the Blue Mage pointed out. "Fiends are hostile and evil, drawing out only the darkest traits of their bearer's soul."  
"Ultimately, only you can decide if you want to face your Fiend, Daisy," the Red Mage said.  
"And of course, I agreed," Present Daisy said, watching herself hand over the Crystal of Psionics.  
Reluctantly the White Mage cast Banish on the crystal, causing it to disappear, and for a moment all was still. A huge portal to the Void then opened and out stepped a girl with long purple hair, a standard mage hat, and flowing, royal robes, and she adjusted her hat and said, "I knew you'd do it. Call me Cerah, Fiend of Psionics…whisper it in terror with your final breath."  
Past Daisy readied her Wheel Scythe, while Present Daisy shook her head and said, "This was a mistake…we had no idea what we'd be dealing with."  
Cerah waved her hand and a throne rose out of the ground, and she sat down, crossed her legs, and said, "If it's all the same, I'd rather not get my hands dirty. Council, if you would be so kind?"  
The council members stood up and drew their weapons, and Past Daisy said, "What…?"  
She barely escaped the onslaught of magic that came at her, and Present Daisy said, "We didn't anticipate that Cerah would be able to control their minds…much less the minds of almost everyone in Mysidia. Luckily Erica-sama was immune and helped me fight Cerah."  
She watched Cerah dance around attacks from both Erica and Past Daisy, counterattacking with spells, punches, and mental blasts, until finally Erica grabbed her by the throat. "You're quite an annoyance," Erica said, a sphere of magical energy forming in her free hand.  
"You can't kill me," Cerah said. "Only Daisy can kill me, and we both know she's not capable of it."  
Past Daisy narrowed her eyes and fired a mental blast, but it had no effect and Present Daisy said, "None of my psionic powers could affect her."  
Erica attacked Cerah and there was a massive explosion of light, and when it cleared Erica was gone, and Cerah stood there holding a stuffed rabbit. "Erica-sama?" Past Daisy shouted.  
"I told you not to interfere," Cerah said, addressing the rabbit. "Oh well. Now it's time I—"  
She suddenly stumbled and coughed up blood, and Past Daisy said, "Death Claw…and now, Meteor!"  
A multitude of space rocks crashed into the building and plowed into Cerah, and before she could recover Past Daisy ran in and slashed her through the torso with her Wheel Scythe. "…Fine…" Cerah said as she faded away. "You win…"  
The Crystal of Psionics reappeared and flashed, projecting its voice to Daisy:

_You have defeated your own darkness. You are now fit to wield your power to its fullest._

The crystal returned to its bearer and her cape turned white, her armor grew thicker and extended plates past her knees and elbows, and a faint aura enveloped her. Past Daisy knelt down to examine the stuffed rabbit, who actually spoke, "Well isn't this great…"  
"E…Erica…sama?" Past Daisy asked.  
"Who else?" the rabbit said, twitching its ears. "Cerah cast a forbidden spell on me. I'll be stuck like this for a long time thanks to you."  
"…I'm sorry," Past Daisy apologized.  
"Hm…my magic isn't as powerful in this form," Erica said. "You'll have to protect Mysidia until I get back to normal."  
"Y…yes, ma'am," Past Daisy said.  
"I've had enough flashbacks," Present Daisy said. "I already know what happens! I train for another year, find the legend, and then go meet up with the Warriors of Light. What kind of trial is this?"  
"Who can say, kupo?" said a voice behind her, and she turned to see a Moogle. "The temple has its reasons for reminding you of all this. Don't you remember how each of these things made you feel, kupo?"  
"Made me feel?" Daisy said. "How is that important?"  
"You tell me, kupo," the Moogle said. "Answer this: how did you feel each time the council offered you a class change?"  
"I don't know…" Daisy said. "I guess I felt like…they thought I wasn't good enough in my current class…"  
"And when the crystal chose you, kupo?" the Moogle asked.  
"…I felt like it wasn't my place," Daisy said. "I thought there must have been some kind of mistake, a crystal choosing a girl who couldn't even find what class she belonged in."  
"And when you awakened Cerah, and she mind controlled everyone and turned Erica in a stuff rabbit?" the Moogle continued.  
"It was all my fault," Daisy said. "It was all my fault because I wasn't good enough…I'm still not good enough…"  
"And when you joined the Warriors of Light, kupo?" the Moogle asked.  
"…I don't know why I'm still here," Daisy said. "My purpose was to guide them to the temple—I'm not good enough to be one of them."  
"You're still here because you want to prove that you are, kupo," the Moogle said. "Prove to yourself, at least. The others accept you—even value you as one of their most powerful members. They want to be your friends, kupo…if you'll let them."  
"…I've never really had friends," Daisy said. "I never felt like I deserved any. I always thought that everyone else was better than me."  
"Someone I doubt Erica was a big help, kupo," the Moogle murmured.  
"…Maybe I should stop letting it get to me," Daisy said. "I do want to have friends…to feel important. I've been training for so long…maybe I can be helpful in defeating the Void."  
"Maybe, kupo?" the Moogle said.  
"…I CAN help the Warriors of Light save the world," Daisy said. "I am a Warrior of Light…it's where I belong."  
"That's the spirit, kupo," the Moogle said. "I think you're worthy of an Ultima Weapon. Go meet up with your friends."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The Moogle looked up as the Warriors of Light all reappeared in the chamber, and he stood up and said, "Congratulations, kupo—you all passed. Now you get your Ultima Weapons."  
"Are you going to give them to us?" Kareha asked.  
The Moogle shook his head and pointed behind them, and they turned to face the pillar of light which had now reduced in intensity to become more of a spotlight. An orb of white light appeared in the spotlight, and a voice said, **"Lisianthus, Viking of Fire, we present to you this Ultima Weapon: the Judgment Hammer, a weapon that can cast Flare."** A white and red hammer came from the orb and floated over to Sia, who grabbed it with both hands and tested its weight.  
"**Nerine, Sage of Water, we present to you this Ultima Weapon: the Sage's Staff, which will reduce the MP cost of all of your spells to 1."** An ornate gold staff materialized and floated over to Nerine, and then gem at its top lit up as soon as she touched it.  
"**Kaede, Ninja of Earth, we present to you this Ultima Weapon: the Assassin Daggers, knives that will sometimes kill a target in one hit."** Two black, curved daggers floated towards Kaede, who pulled them out of the air and then looked back to the light.  
"**Asa, Mystic Knight of Wind, we present to you this Ultima Weapon: Mysticalibur, a sword that will double the power of your Spellblades."** A long saber with runes down the blade floated towards Asa, who examined it intently.  
"**Mayumi, Monk of Metal, we present to you this Ultima Weapon: the Demon Claws, weapons that can bypass physical defense."** Two black and red gauntlets with clawed fingers floated towards Mayumi, who slipped them over her hands and clenched her fists.  
"**Kareha, Black Mage of Lightning, we present to you this Ultima Weapon: the Tome of Divinity, a holy book that will completely change your abilities. When you hold this book it will be as if you were a White Mage your entire life."** A white book with gold symbols on the cover floated over to Kareha, who took it and opened to a random page.  
"**Sakura, Summoner of False Void, we present to you this Ultima Weapon: the Artemis Bow, which will allow you to summon two Spirits at the same time."** A crossbow with a crescent moon design floated over to Sakura, who took it and ran her finger along the edges.  
"**Daisy, Freelancer of Psionics, we present to you this Ultima Weapon: the Mirage Circle, a Wheel Scythe with the ability to create infinite copies of itself."** A Wheel Scythe with a purple handle and silver-white blades floated over to Daisy, who grabbed it and spun it around a few times.  
The orb of light then vanished and the spotlight faded away, and the Moogle said, "There's something else you should know, kupo: in addition to the abilities just described to you, your Ultima Weapons will allow you to use a super powerful technique called an Ultima Strike. The catch is, kupo, you can only use it in a situation where you have no other choice."  
"What do you mean by that?" Sakura asked.  
"You'll know when the time comes, kupo," the Moogle said. "That's all I can offer you, kupo."  
"Thank you," Asa said. "We need to be getting back. Let's go, everyone."  
The Warriors of Light left the temple and walked out of Lufenia, crossing the forest and coming to where their airship was, but sitting outside the ship was a man in read armor carrying several swords on his back. "Who are you?" Sia asked.  
The man stood up and said, "Who am I? Surely you jest! How could you not recognize Gilgamesh, the legendary sword collector?"  
There was a brief silence, and then Asa said, "He kinda reminds me of Itsuki…"  
"I sensed some incredibly powerful weapons on this island—I must obtain them!" Gilgamesh said.  
"The temple's that way," Nerine said, pointing. "If you can pass the trial you'll get an Ultima Weapon."  
"Trial? I don't have time for trials!" Gilgamesh said. "Just give me your weapons—they'll do nicely."  
"No way!" Mayumi said. "Get your own Ultima Weapon!"  
"How dare you speak to the mighty Gilgamesh in such a way!" Gilgamesh shouted. "You cannot even fathom my might! Why, just this morning I defeated a Tonberry with a single blow!"  
Daisy immediately used Battle Cry, transforming and gaining an aura, and the others gave her a look. "…What?" Daisy asked. "Have you ever fought a Tonberry?"  
"If you will not surrender your weapons, then I shall take them by force!" Gilgamesh said, drawing two swords. He ran out and attacked, hitting Sia and Mayumi, and then he jumped away from Asa and Kaede's attacks before being slashed by Daisy. Gilgamesh blocked several attacks and then unleashed Wind Slash on the party, but Kareha healed them and Nerine blasted him with Ruinga. Sakura shot an arrow but Gilgamesh slashed it in half and then threw shuriken at the party, and then he locked swords with Asa, grew two more arms, and slashed her with two more swords. Sia made fire rain down as Kaede made the earth rise up, but Gilgamesh endured and counterattacked with his blades, and Mayumi lashed out and punched him.  
"Now might be a good time to try out that technique," Sakura said, creating a Summon Sphere. "Summoning Type B! Leviathan!"  
Sakura vanished and a blue, serpentine dragon took her place, and it roared and lunged at Gilgamesh. Leviathan knocked Gilgamesh to the ground and the Warriors of Light moved in, Asa asking, "What's Summoning Type B?"  
"It's a technique her parents left for her," Kaede said. "The Spirit takes Sakura's place and fights alongside us for a few rounds."  
Gilgamesh grew another set of arms and drew more swords, and he rushed at the party only to be washed away by Leviathan and encased in a sphere of water by Nerine. Sia increased the temperature to the boiling point, and after a few seconds they ceased the attack and Gilgamesh collapsed.  
"Alright…you got me," Gilgamesh said. He picked up his swords and turned to leave, but then he cast Haste, Protect, and Shell, and turned and blasted the party with an energy wave.  
"Haha! I fooled you!" Gilgamesh said, dodging and counterattacking everyone, even Leviathan. "Never underestimate the mighty—"  
"Death Claw," Daisy interrupted, and Gilgamesh again collapsed and dropped his swords.  
"…That's cheap," Gilgamesh mumbled.  
"Should we turn him over to the Lufenians?" Nerine asked.  
"Nah…I don't think he's that much of a threat," Asa said.  
"Who are you people?" Gilgamesh asked.  
Leviathan vanished and Sakura reappeared, and then Asa answered, "We're the Warriors of Light, chosen to defeat the Void."  
Gilgamesh's eyes widened and he said, "What…? Why didn't you tell me? I must join you!"  
"You're kidding, right?" Mayumi asked.  
Gilgamesh pushed all of his swords aside and bowed his head, saying, "I apologize for attacking you, but you must let me help you!"  
"…Let me take a look," Daisy said, and she stepped forward and focused on Gilgamesh, reaching out with her telepathy. She scanned his memories, his intentions, and everything else before retreating and saying, "…He means well. We should trust him."  
"Well…I guess telepathy doesn't lie," Asa said. "Alright, but we're keeping a close eye on you!"  
"Yes, I understand," Gilgamesh said.  
Mayumi took his swords and carried them onto the airship, the others following and Gilgamesh and Daisy picking up the rear. "You read my mind, didn't you?" Gilgamesh said. "Then you must have seen my origins…"  
"I also saw how you've changed by then," Daisy said as they entered the airship and the door closed behind them. "I can't blame you for the things you've done in your past. Right now you'll be a big help, and I can see that that's what you really intend to do."  
"…Thank you," Gilgamesh said, and the airship took off.

_With Ultima Weapons in hand and a mysterious ally on-board, the Warriors of Light return to Verbena. The time has come at last for their final battle with Primula, a battle that will decide the fate of the whole world…_

Primula opened her eyes and said, "It's time."  
"Time for what?" Vitirus asked.  
"The end," Primula said. "The Warriors of Light hold Ultima Weapons, and their crystals are filled to the brim with powerful energy. They will come soon, and then I can kill them and claim their crystals for the Void, giving me the energy I need to consume the world."  
"Fantastic!" Vitirus said. "I shall go prepare the castle for battle!"  
The general ran off and left Primula alone, and the enigmatic queen shed a single tear as she said, "And with the world consumed I will finally have the power I need…the power to go home."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The party stepped off of the airship and entered Verbena, immediately finding a large crowd filling the streets. "Is this normal?" Gilgamesh asked.  
"No, it's not," Asa said. "Wonder what's going on…"  
They continued to town hall and entered to find one of the elders examining a paper laid out on a table, and Kaede asked, "Has something happened?"  
"Oh, you have returned!" the elder said. "No, nothing bad has happened, but while you were gone we sent out messages to all of our allies and gathered all of their warriors here."  
"I guess you're prepared…" Sakura said.  
"Of course," said another man who entered the room. "We wanted to attack as soon as you got back."  
"Not necessarily," said another man who came in behind him. "They might want to rest first."  
"Greetings, Your Majesties," the elder said, bowing. "For those of you unfamiliar, this is Eustoma, King of Gods, and Forbesii, King of Demons."  
"Dad? You came too?" Sia asked.  
"Father…" Nerine said.  
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Forbesii said. "You left without saying good-bye."  
"You too, Sia," Eustoma said. "We were a little hurt."  
"Sorry, but…I had to do something," Sia said.  
"It was an important matter, and I had no idea I'd be gone so long," Nerine said. "I apologize…"  
"No need," Forbesii said. "You did the right thing, and now you're saving the world."  
"We couldn't be more proud," Eustoma said.  
The princesses smiled and hugged their fathers, and the Ruri entered and said, "I've alerted the…oh, you're back! Does that mean we'll be leaving soon?"  
"We haven't determined that yet," the elder said. "Everyone can be ready at a moment's notice. When do you want to attack?"  
Asa thought about it for a second, and then she said, "Would tomorrow be good?"  
Everyone agreed that would be best, and the elder said, "Alright, we attack tomorrow. Cid wanted to make some modifications to the airship anyway."  
Itsuki then entered the room and said, "I thought I saw you come into town. Good timing, too—we just spotted an Yggdrasil ship approaching."  
"Looks like they're bringing the fight to us," Mayumi said. "Let's go take care of them."  
"Actually, they have a white flag," Itsuki said. "See for yourself."  
He led everyone down to the docks just as a large ship pulled in, and the elder said, "What brings you here? Explain yourself!"  
They grew silent as Rin stepped off the ship, and as he approached he said, "Rest assured we have no intentions of fighting you now. I was only sent to talk."  
"…So you really have betrayed us," the elder said.  
"No, he's just been brainwashed," Kaede said. "We can get him back to normal."  
"But can we get to the point?" Rin said. "We know you're preparing to attack us, foolish as it may be. Her Majesty has offered you a very generous chance—you can skip all the violence and just hand over the Warriors of Light."  
"What kind of offer is that?" Eustoma asked.  
"If you attack, many of your warriors will be killed," Rin said.  
"And if we give you the crystals, the world will be consumed by the Void," Forbesii said. "I don't see much of a difference."  
"How ignorant of you," Rin said. "Just being cast into the Void doesn't end your existence. If you are strong enough you can survive and end up in a new world."  
"We're kind of partial to this world," Asa said. "You're not going to convince us."  
"You would turn your back on your own people?" Rin asked.  
"Uh…no, that's why I'm refusing your offer," Asa said.  
"So you don't know…" Rin said. "Ama never told you of your heritage."  
"…What are you talking about?" Asa asked.  
"You were born in Yggdrasil," Rin said. "It was Ama's original home. You are one of us."  
"No one's buying it," Sakura said.  
"Ask Ama yourself," Rin said. "If you want to accept my offer, just come back before I leave."  
"You can't take a hint, can you?" Gilgamesh said.  
Rin smirked and said, "What about you, Gilgamesh? Are you going to be a traitor too?"  
"…I'll do what's right," Gilgamesh said.  
"You are not meant to do what you call right," Rin said. "You are a creature of the Void, Gilgamesh—you should return to it, not fight against it!"  
"Why would I go back?" Gilgamesh shouted. "Wandering the Void isn't something I wish on others! I never asked Primula to bring me here, and I said to her face that I would do all I could to defeat her scheme!"  
"Hmph…how ungrateful," Rin said, walking back onto the ship. "You have two hours to reconsider."  
He left the group on the docks in silence for a while, but eventually Nerine asked, "Are you really from the Void?"  
"…Yes," Gilgamesh said. "Many years ago I was thrown into the Void as…punishment…and ever since I've been using its interdimensional pathways to try and get home."  
"So the Void connects dimensions?" Kareha said.  
"Yes, but the pathways are very turbulent," Gilgamesh said. "Even Primula can only control pathways linking locations in this dimension. She pulled me out of the Void as I was passing by in hopes that I would help her, but like I said: I wouldn't wish my fate of eternally wandering the Void on anyone. But…I understand if you don't trust me."  
"…Well, Daisy read your mind and said we could trust you," Sia said.  
"It's true—he may have a complicated past, but he sincerely wants to help us stop the Void," Daisy said.  
"…If you trust him, then we will as well," the elder said. "We should continue making plans."  
"Actually, there's something I need to do," Asa said. "I'll catch up with you later."

Ama opened the door to find Asa, and she hugged her and said, "A-chan, you're home! I was so worried!"  
"I missed you too, mom," Asa said. "How have you been?"  
"I'm alright, I suppose," Ama said. "So, did you get the weapons you wanted?"  
"Yeah, here it is," Asa said, gesturing towards Mysticalibur. "But…there's something I want to talk to you about."  
"Sure; what is it?" Ama said.  
"Maybe we should sit down," Asa suggested, so they went over to the table. "…You've heard about Rin, right?"  
"Yes," Ama said. "They say he's under the control of the Void."  
"He came here to try and talk us into surrendering," Asa said. "It didn't work, but…he said that I was born is Yggdrasil. Is that…true?"  
Ama was silent at first, and then she diverted her gaze and said, "…You have to understand, A-chan…there are reasons why I never told you."  
"So it is true…" Asa said.  
"I was born and raised in Yggdrasil, and that's where I met your father and gave birth to you," Ama said. "But back then it was a peaceful kingdom—it had no connections to the Void. Right after you were born, Primula came, overthrew the king, and took control, telling us that we were all now servants of the Void. I didn't want to raise you in a place like that, so I escaped…I never said anything because you were so happy here, and we might never be able to return."  
"But once all this started it might have been nice to know," Asa said.  
"…Why?" Ama said. "How would it have helped anything to know that you were born in the kingdom your enemy now controls?" Asa said nothing, so Ama continued, "Besides, it doesn't matter. So what if we came from Yggdrasil? It's not like we're helping them now…your heritage doesn't determine who you are."  
"…But what if the others don't trust me?" Asa said.  
"I don't think they would lose trust in you so easily," Ama said. "You're their friend, and you've led them through a lot to bring them this far. Knowing where you were born doesn't change you—A-chan is still A—chan."  
"…I hope you're right," Asa said.

"I suppose they refused?" Primula said.  
"Yes, Your Majesty," Rin said. "It would seem we will have no choice but to make them suffer, including that traitorous Gilgamesh."  
"I have plans for Gilgamesh," Primula said. "Tomorrow we shall win a great victory, and all three worlds—the world of humans, the world of gods, and the world of demons—will be powerless to stop us. The Void will consume them all, starting with the Warriors of Light."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The Yggdrasil soldier walked across the castle wall and squinted his eyes, spotting an airship that was nearing the kingdom. He grabbed his binoculars and took a closer look, trying to determine if it was one of theirs, but then it deployed an energy cannon and fired, blowing a huge chunk out of the castle. An alarm sounded and soldiers mobilized to shoot down the aircraft, but their shots bounced off of an invisible shield and it fired another blast. A group of soldiers came up onto the wall carrying an enormous cannon, but before they could fire it the airship fired its cannon again…but rather than shooting another blast, it shot Gilgamesh towards the castle.  
"Have at thee, vile minions of evil!" Gilgamesh shouted, holding a sword in each of his six arms. "Mighty Gilgamesh Special 25: Supersonic Cannonball Slash!"  
He spun around as he neared the castle and landed on his feet behind the enemy soldiers, facing the airship, and an instant later the soldiers collapsed and their cannon fell to pieces. The airship pulled up to the castle roof and Gilgamesh saluted them, and then he ran over to the staircase and went down into the castle. A door opened on the airship's side and out stepped Eustoma, Forbesii, Ruri, and Itsuki, and from the control room Cid activated the speaker system and said, "I'll go drop off the rest of the troops. Contact me if you need anything."  
The airship flew down towards the ground and the party moved towards the staircase that led into the castle, but then Eustoma said, "Wait…someone's coming."  
The sky grew dark and a gateway to the Void appeared between them and the staircase, and after a moment it vanished only to be replaced with a horrible creature bearing red skin that opened its enormous maw to reveal a view of what appeared to be the far reaches of outer space. "You think it'll be that easy?" echoed a voice. "Think again! I am Atomos, recruited by Queen Primula to stop you. Now pay…with your blood!"  
Atomos cast Comet but Ruri blocked it with a shield of light, and then Eustoma blasted their foe but his attack was lost in Atomos's maw. Forbesii cast Ruinga and Atomos absorbed that too, and as the monster cast Firaga Itsuki Jumped up into the air. Ruri healed the party and Itsuki crashed down on Atomos, forcing his mouth shut, and the Kings took advantage of the opportunity to unleash powerful spells on Atomos.  
"We already found his weakness?" Itsuki said, adjusting his glasses. "This'll be easy."  
"You think so?" Atomos said, opening his mouth again. "Wormhole!" A powerful force pulled Itsuki into Atomos's mouth, and though the others tried to save him they weren't quick enough and ended up being assaulted with Flare.  
"We need to get Itsuki out of there," Forbesii said. "Think you can get me an opening, Shin-chan?"  
"Of course I can," Eustoma said, glowing with energy. "Try not to get hut."  
Ruri cast Reflect on the party just as Atomos cast Comet, saving them from the damage, and Atomos said, "Now that's bothersome…"  
Eustoma was about to attack when a flash came from Atomos's mouth, and suddenly Itsuki was hurled out and he knocked the King of Gods over. Forbesii attempted casting Silence on Atomos while Ruri healed Eustoma and Itsuki, and Itsuki said, "That was less than pleasant…"  
Atomos targeted Forbesii with Wormhole but Itsuki interrupted him with Jump, and then the King of Demons shot a powerful orb of darkness at Atomos and blinded him. Eustoma moved in and punched Atomos with a glowing fist, hitting the beast with enough force to knock it back, and Ruri teleported behind it and swung her blade of light. Atomos groaned and Eustoma said, "Too much for you, creature of the Void?"  
"I will not fail…" Atomos said. "Black Hole!" Instantly all four party members were dragged into Atomos's mouth, and before they could gather their bearings they were knocked around by a series of Flare spells followed up with Meteor.  
"Heheheh…you're in my world now," Atomos said. "You have no chance of escape!"  
Ruri used her most powerful healing spell and asked, "What do we do now?"  
"I'll get us out, then you finish him off," Forbesii said. "If we're inside Atomos, then this should be very effective."  
"Ah, the Chaos Combo?" Eustoma said. "Kids, you'd better stand back."  
A powerful aura enveloped Forbesii, and Atomos said, "Whatever you're doing, it won't work. Now die!"  
Meteors flew at the party, but Forbesii swung his arm and said, "Claws of Lich!" Chunks of earth flew up and destroyed the meteors, and then several boulders surrounded the King of Demons and shot out, eventually breaking against an invisible wall.  
"Blades of Marilith!" Forbesii shouted, creating an enormous wheel of fire above him as Atomos screamed in pain. The flames compressed into two blades and Forbesii slashed with them, not appearing to hit anything but producing more cries of anguish, and then Forbesii punched the air and said, "Fists of Kraken!" A tidal wave smashed into the invisible wall and then ran up in the shape of a waterfall, and then the water formed into sharp disks and cut their target as a gale surrounded Forbesii.  
"How…how are you doing this?" Atomos asked.  
"Fangs of Tiamat!" Forbesii cried, unleashing a powerful tornado that caused the world around the party to spin.  
Eventually the winds ceased, and Atomos said, "I…I still have you…it wasn't enough…"  
Forbesii then pointed and said, "Brink of Delusion." A powerful pillar of energy erupted before him, causing Atomos so much pain that he spat the party back out, and then Itsuki and Ruri attacked with their weapons and Eustoma stepped forward.  
"No…please…" Atomos begged.  
Eustoma's eyes flashed and Atomos was instantly incinerated, and then he turned back to the others and said, "Well that was a waste of time."

Gilgamesh knocked the last soldier aside and then looked out over the large, empty basement chamber, saying, "This should do."  
He charged his swords with energy and then slammed them into the floor, blasting a deep vertical tunnel, and then he jumped down to the bottom and put a hand to the wall. He took a deep breath and blew out the wall, and water instantly rushed in and pushed him back up to the top before leveling out. Gilgamesh got onto dry land and sheathed his swords, and before long a submarine surfaced in the small pool and came over to where he was. The hatch opened and the Warriors of Light stepped out, Asa saying, "Thanks, Gilgamesh. Everyone's probably at the gate, so we should be able to sneak up to the throne room pretty easily."  
"Indeed," Gilgamesh said. "Now come—we must hurry if we are to catch Primula before she advances to the front lines!"  
The party hurried up several flights of stairs and down a couple hallways, and Sia asked, "Are you sure we're going the right way?"  
"Positive," Sakura said. "I can sense the Crystal of Void, and it must be with Primula. It should be…right this way."  
A blast of electricity suddenly erupted in their path, halting them, and three small orange spheres could be seen bouncing towards them. "Movers," Gilgamesh said, drawing his swords. "I'll deal with them; you go find Primula."  
He lunged and knocked the Movers aside, opening a path for the Warriors of Light, and they hurried through and ascended another staircase that led to a short hall with a large, decorated door at the far end, and Daisy said, "That has to lead to the throne room."  
"Correct," said a voice as a portal to the Void appeared. The party drew their Ultima Weapons as Rin and Vitirus stepped out of the portal, and as it closed behind them Rin continued, "Queen Primula is beyond these doors…but you won't be getting in there. We're going to kill you here and take your crystals."  
"Or," Mayumi said, "we beat both of you up, kick the Void out of you, and then go fight Primula."  
Vitirus drew two large swords and said, "I like the first option better."  
He sent out an energy wave and Rin cast Blizzaga, but Kareha Reflected both attacks and Sakura lifted up a Summon Sphere. "Ramuh! Judgment Bolt!" she said, and an old man appeared before the party and sent a powerful lightning storm at their enemies. Rin jumped through the Void to get behind the party but Daisy blocked and hit him with Sword Dance, meanwhile Asa distracted Vitirus so Kaede could stab his back.  
"Have you gotten any stronger?" Sia asked, blasting Vitirus back with a fireball. "Fighting you has only gotten easier and easier."  
Vitirus slammed both swords on the ground and swept his opponents away with an energy shockwave, and Rin endured a torrent of water from Nerine and used Bio on the part. "Rin-kun, I know what you're going through, but you can't win," Sakura said.  
"I have to!" Rin said, and two portals to the Void opened on opposite ends of the party and unleashed energy beams on them. Vitirus slashed each one of the Warriors of Light and then knocked them into the air with an energy pulse, and Rin tried to cast Thundaga but Nerine Silenced him and Sia and Daisy struck with their weapons. Daisy hurled a bolt of mental energy at Vitirus, throwing him off and allowing Kaede to smash him between four slabs of earth, and then Asa grabbed Rin by the neck and picked him up off the ground.  
"Sorry Rin-chan, but you're no match for us," Asa said.  
A pulse of energy ran through the room as a powerful aura enveloped Vitirus, and he shouted, "Rrraugh! Damn you, Warriors of Light…I'm not losing to you anymore! I've worked hard every day of my life to become the most powerful general in Yggdrasil, but you teenage girls somehow manage to foil my plans every time! You've done nothing but ruin my life since the first time I met you, but I will not fail in this last chance to redeem myself! Die, Warriors of Light—die and burn in hell for making my life just like it!"  
He bellowed and ran forward, blazing with energy, but Kaede jumped in his way and stabbed him in the chest with her Assassin Daggers, cutting his charge short. Vitirus dropped his swords and Kaede withdrew her weapons and stepped away, and Vitirus fell to his knees and looked at his wound. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but the power of the daggers was quicker and he collapsed on the ground, a pool of blood slowly moving outward from him.  
"…I almost feel sorry for him," Nerine said.  
"If only Primula hadn't brainwashed him…" Daisy said.  
"But speaking of which," Asa said, turning back to Rin, "it's time you snapped out of it."  
"I think I'll pass," Rin said. He formed a gateway to the Void that attempted to pull him in, but Asa held on and gritted her teeth.  
"You're not going anywhere, Rin-chan!" Asa said.  
Kaede came up and grabbed Rin as well, saying, "We're this close to Primula—we just need to defeat her and this will all be over!"  
Sakura came next, exerting her Void powers to combat the gateway and saying, "I want us all to be together again! We're taking the Void out of you whether you like it or not!"  
The portal slowly shrunk away as the seven crystals present began to shine, and dark energy emanated from Rin as he said, "Stop…stop it! You can't just take something back from the Void!"  
"Watch us," Kaede said.  
The crystals then fired beams of light at Rin, and the dark energy gathered around him and grew in intensity as Sakura reached out and used her influence to help push the Void out. A pulse of darkness burst out and the beams from the crystals vanished, and Rin fell to the ground and Sakura was overcome with weakness. Kareha helped Sakura up and Kaede glanced from her to Rin, Asa asking, "Rin-chan? Are you back?"  
She got no response, so she knelt down and put a hand to his shoulder, and Kaede asked, "Rin-kun…?"  
Rin stirred and got to his hands and knees, and after a few seconds he looked up and said, "Kaede…Asa-sempai…where are we?"  
"Rin-kun…!" Kaede exclaimed, hugging him.  
Rin looked around, confused, and when he spotted Sakura he said, "S…Sakura…you're…"  
Sakura smiled and said, "Yeah…we're all together."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Gilgamesh walked into the hall to find Rin and the Warriors of Light, and he drew his six blades and said, "Red Mage! Back away and draw your sword!"  
"Take it easy, Gilgamesh—we've got him back," Asa said.  
Gilgamesh lowered his weapons and cast a glance at Vitirus's body, and then he said, "Well…I dealt with the Movers. I guess that's the door to Primula's throne room?"  
"Yeah…but we can't go in just yet," Asa said. "We need to get Rin out of here—he's in no shape to be in the middle of a battle."  
"I'm fine, sempai," Rin said, smiling weakly.  
"Primula is powerful—we can't fight her if we're trying to protect you at the same time," Daisy said. "If you are in a shape to fight, you'll be more useful at the front lines."  
"Hey guys, how're things going?" Itsuki asked as he, Ruri, and the Kings walked in. "Sorry we took so long to get here, but the castle's crawling with Movers."  
"We've got things covered here," Sia said. "You guys should go help the troops."  
"What? We get all the way here and you tell us to go back?" Eustoma said.  
"Think about it, Shin-chan: all that's left is to fight Primula; that's their destiny, not ours," Forbesii said. "But first, allow me."  
He cast a spell to restore the party's strength, and then he and Eustoma walked back down the hall. "Come meet us when you're done saving the world," Eustoma said. "I'll get the sake ready."  
"We should go out to celebrate afterwards," Itsuki said. "Just you girls and me. What do you say?" No one replied, so he sighed, "Fine, I'm going…"  
He departed and Ruri saluted the party, saying, "Best of luck."  
"Could you please take Rin with you?" Asa asked.  
Rin turned to protest, but Asa stared him in the eyes and he said, "…Alright, I'll go with her. Be careful."  
Rin and Ruri left, and then Asa turned to Gilgamesh and said, "You need to go too. The Yggdrasil soldiers are no match for you, after all."  
"Well, that is true," Gilgamesh said. "Give her a good punch for me."  
He walked away from the Warriors of Light and they faced the door to the throne room, and Mayumi said, "Well…time to finish this."  
"Once we go through these doors, there's no turning back," Nerine said. "We either defeat Primula…or fail."  
"We won't fail," Kaede said. "This is our destiny. It's why we were brought together."  
They opened the double doors and stepped back…and then held their ground to keep from being pulled into the massive gateway to the Void that awaited them. "She laid a trap for us," Sia said. "Sakura, can you close it?"  
"I think," Sakura said. "Hold on!"  
Suddenly a flash of red moved past them, and Gilgamesh appeared in the gateway with all of his swords glowing. "Gilgamesh, get back!" Kareha called.  
"You need to save your strength!" Gilgamesh said, digging his swords into the edges of the gateway. "I don't belong here anyway—I have to return to wandering the Void sooner or later. Go: save you world. Mighty Gilgamesh Special 14: Gateway Crush!"  
He jumped into the portal, his swords still at its edges, and pulled with all his might, forcing the opening to shrink, and just before it closed he smiled at the Warriors of Light, the last image of him they saw before he faded from view. With the portal gone the party could now see into the dark throne room, and on the far side Primula, clad in battle armor, rose to her feet and looked up from her stuffed cat.  
"Predictable," Primula said. "I knew you would sneak in and get past Rin and Vitirus. The only problem was Gilgamesh, but I knew he would be so noble."  
The party moved forward and transformed into their special states, and Asa pointed Mysticalibur at the queen and said, "We've come here to stop you and the Void."  
"I already know that," Primula said, her cat disappearing to be replaced with her spiked whip. "Everyone knows why you've come here. It's unfortunate that everyone has to die, but I am left with no other options."  
"What are you talking about?" Nerine asked. "Explain yourself."  
"If I kill you, your crystals will be without their bearers," Primula said. "If your crystals have no bearers, then I can cast them into the Void and make the Crystal of Void stronger. With a stronger crystal, I can consume this entire world and its components—the world of gods, the world of humans, and the world of demons—to make my crystal even stronger. And when I finally achieve that level of power, my control over the Void will be so great that I can calm its currents and control the pathways that connect dimensions."  
"But what will that accomplish?" Kaede asked.  
Primula responded by giving her a longing, somewhat sad look, but then she shook her head and said, "That isn't something you need to know. I must gain that power, and in order to do that…you must die."  
Nerine quickly buffed the party with help from Kareha, and Asa dashed at Primula with a Flare Spellblade that met with an invisible barrier. Kaede warped behind Primula but still met with the shield, and Primula repelled them with a shockwave and created a sphere of energy in her hand. Sakura's Artemis Bow glowed green and she shouted, "Dualsummon: Golem and Carbuncle! Ruby Wall!"  
The two Spirits appeared behind the party briefly and four rubies came to circle each Warrior, and when Primula fired her energy blast it bounced back and faded against her shield.  
"I could Dispel that barrier…but then she'll just Mimic it and Dispel Ruby Wall," Kareha said.  
Sia pounded against the barrier with the Judgment Hammer, blasted it with fire, and even used her hammer to cast Flare, but the barrier still held and Primula struck with her whip, though Ruby Wall stopped any damage from being done.  
"What other choice to we have?" Mayumi asked. "We can't do anything until that barrier goes down." Reluctantly Kareha cast Dispel on Primula, shattering her barrier, and then Mayumi rushed in and punched the queen while Daisy pulled out a bunch of gil.  
"Zeninage!" she yelled, hurling the coins at Primula and damaging her. Kaede and Sia attacked with their elements but Primula warped out of the way, Dispelled Ruby Wall, and scattered the party with Dark Flare.  
"Now the battle can truly begin," Primula said.  
She turned and raised an earth wall to block Asa, but the Mystic Knight's Wind Spellblade was powerful enough to obliterate the barrier and force Primula to step back, putting her right in Sakura's line of fire. Kareha used a bolt of lightning to paralyze their enemy while Sakura prepared, and then the Summoner yelled, "Dualsummon: Bahamut and Odin! Zantetsu Flare!"  
Odin appeared in front of the party and Bahamut appeared above them, and the dragon exhaled a fireball that Odin bounced towards Primula with his sword. A gateway to the Void opened to protect Primula and absorb the blast, and then another gateway appeared behind Kareha to unleash the blast on her. Nerine healed the Mage as Mayumi moved in, catching Primula's whip on her arm, and then Kaede warped behind Primula and stabbed her before being sent flying with a sonic blast. Primula threw Mayumi and then turned and hit Sia with a water blast, and Asa swept her up into a tornado while Daisy created several dozen duplicates of her Mirage Circle. Primula broke free from the whirlwind and guarded to lessen the damage as the Wheel Scythes flew at her, and then she reached out and opened flaming fissures beneath the Warriors of Light and then cast Thundaga.  
"You have improved," Primula said, casting Holy. The party endured and Kareha quickly healed them, and then they all unleashed elemental attacks on Primula to deliver a large chunk of damage. Primula smirked and Mimicked the move, knocking out a few party members, and then she blazed with energy and cast Ultima to knock out a few more.  
"Urgh…" Sakura groaned. "Dualsummon: Phoenix and Alexander. Divine Rebirth!"  
Flames of light enveloped the party, reviving them and completely restoring their health, and as Primula moved to cast Ultima again Mayumi kicked her and Kaede created a pit for her to fall into. Sia flooded the pit with flames but Primula leapt out and struck her with immense force, and at the same time a gateway to the Void appeared to unleash Meteor on the party. Asa sliced Primula's armor with a wind blade and then Daisy used her telekinesis to slam her into the wall, and before she could recover Nerine cast Ultima to give her a taste of her own medicine.  
"That's new," Sia said.  
"I've never had enough MP to cast it before," Nerine said.  
Primula warped back over to her throne and willed blades to rain down on the party, and then she unleashed tornados of fire and lightning before assaulting them with an earthquake and a tidal wave. She crippled them with a mental blast and then held out a hand, saying, "Now, embrace the Void…and fade into nothingness."  
Waves of Void energy battered the party, draining their health, relentlessly pounding away without giving them the chance to recover. "It can't…be over," Sakura said, an orange light emanating from the Artemis Bow. "…Ultima…Strike…"  
She pointed her crossbow at Primula and said, "Final Summon: Rudy!" Light burst forth briefly and the Spirit appeared…as a small, green and yellow parakeet sitting on the tip of the Artemis Bow.  
"That's the Final Summon?" Primula asked.  
Rudy cocked his head and glared at Primula, and then he gripped the bow tightly with his talons and began flapping his wings, sending out hundreds of light waves that cancelled Primula's attack and blasted her into the wall. The Warriors of Light got to their feet as Rudy stopped his attack and chirped, and then the Spirit disappeared and the party turned to Primula.  
_We're still weak from the attack…but this may be our only chance to finish her,_ Asa thought as Mysticalibur began to glow. Primula stood up, disoriented, and then Asa readied her sword as the glow spread all over her, saying, "Ultima Strike: Hurricane Spellblade!"  
She seemed to vanish for a moment, and then she reappeared next to Primula and slashed her, instantly relocating and slashing again, over and over, each time leaving behind an afterimage of herself, and then she reappeared above Primula and dove down, blade first, blasting Primula with a pillar of wind more intense than the strongest storm.  
Primula collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily, and after a few seconds she said, "This…cannot be…I won't…lose now…"  
A portal appeared behind her, but this was not a Void gateway: it was a blue, oval portal that shimmered when Primula stepped through it, and it remained open afterwards. The party waited a minute, and then Nerine said, "…It looks like we have to go in."  
"It could be a trap," Daisy said. "If we go in there, we may not come back out."  
"She could be drawing energy out of the Void to restore her MP every second," Sakura said. "We need to decide what we're going to do quickly."  
They turned to Asa, who thought for a minute and then said, "We have to finish what we started. Let's go."  
The Warriors of Light entered the portal to find themselves in a wide open field with several large fragments of buildings floating in the sky, and Sakura said, "This is a Rift…it's a pocket dimension on the edge of the Void. Primula creates them all the time to train her soldiers."  
The portal closed and they turned to see Primula standing a few feet away, facing two large portals to the Void that hovered above the ground. "Creatures of the Void, hear my call," she said. "Soon this whole world will belong to you, but first you must lend me your aid. Lords of the Void, Omega and Shinryu, join with me. Help me crush my foes!"  
A chill rushed through the air as two beings stepped out of the Void—an arachnid-like machine and a winged dragon—and then the two portals merged into one and enveloped both them and Primula in a sphere of darkness. The sphere quickly grew to an enormous size, crackling with energy, and the Warriors of Light stepped back and readied their weapons. When the sphere finally faded away, it revealed only one being: a colossal, mechanical, horned, winged, four-legged dragon that glared at the girls with burning eyes.  
"**I am Dracomega Primula, Master of the Void,"** it bellowed. **"Warriors of Light, come drown in the currents of nothingness; experience true misery in your final moments, and cry in agony as your destiny dies with you! Empty Roar!"  
**She reared back and let loose a horrible scream, and then seven small portals to the Void opened to swallow everyone but Asa. Asa looked around and then notice Primula raising one of her front legs, and the limb separated and rocketed toward her, punching her and sending her hurtling through the air. The winds bent around Asa, slowing her to a halt, and then she sprang off and flew back at Primula, slicing her with a Flare Spellblade. Primula cast Firaga but Asa blew it out of the way and attacked with a Wind Spellblade, causing sparks to pop from Primula's neck and the others to reappear. It wasn't long, however, before Primula used Empty Roar again, this time consuming all but Sakura, and the Summoner wasted no time in unleashing a barrage of arrows on the dragon's head. The beast spread its wings and fired a dozen lasers, but Sakura dodged and said, "Dualsummon: Sylph and Titan! Wrathful Whisper!"  
A winged green creature and a thick-skinned giant appeared on the battlefield; the former attacked with a gale strong enough to knock Primula into the air, and when she fell the latter willed the earth to rise up and meet her with a painful smash. The Spirits disappeared as the other Warriors returned, but once again Primula banished seven of them from the field and only Kareha was left behind. She prepared to cast Reflect but Primula Silenced her and smashed her with her tail, and the Mage struggled to her feet and readied herself for the next attack. The Tome of Divinity began to glow orange, and Primula growled and cast Aeroga, but a burst came from the Tome to deflect it and Kareha said, "Ultima Strike: Heaven's Fury!"  
A blast reminiscent of Holy laced with multiple Thundaga spells engulfed Primula, and the rest of the party reappeared and Asa said, "This is getting repetitive."  
Primula cast Curaja on herself and cleared the field, this time sparing Sia, and the goddess's hammer had no effect when she swung it. A wall of flames protected Sia from counterattack but only did a small amount of damage, and then she jumped onto Primula's back as the Judgment Hammer lit up.  
"Ultima Strike: Final Sentence!" Sia said, and then she smashed Primula's spine and unleashed an inferno that covered her in an instant, and when Sia jumped out unharmed a few seconds later it continued to burn.  
Predictably, moments after the others returned Primula used Empty Roar, and when Daisy found herself alone she jumped away from Primula's fangs and threw a duplicate of the Mirage Circle with her telekinesis. The scythe bounced off and Primula shot Daisy with eye beams, and then she moved forward and snapped again only for Daisy to narrowly dodge and use Steal. The Freelancer quickly pocketed her loot and defended against a beam of darkness, and as the Mirage Circle glowed she teleported away from Primula and shouted, "Ultima Strike: Cerebral Vortex!"  
Hundreds of Mirage Circles appeared and spin so fast they became blurs, and then they swirled around Primula and ground into every inch of her while Daisy continuously assaulted her mind. Primula healed herself and the Warriors returned, and then she roared, leaving only Mayumi to fight her, and blasted the Monk with a focused energy beam. Mayumi tried using her Metal powers on Primula but they had no effect, and the dragon cast Ultima to weaken her and then stomped. Amazingly, Mayumi was able to catch Primula's foot and hold it back with visible effort, and as her Demon Claws started glowing she ripped the limb off and threw it away, and she jumped right at Primula.  
"Ultima Strike: Adamant Punch!" she said, striking her foe with enough force to create an enormous dent, dislodge several dozen armor plates, and send her flying far, far away.  
"You think she's done yet?" Mayumi wondered aloud as the others returned. From her landing place Primula rose to her feet and used Empty Roar one more time, singling out Nerine, and then she rocketed forward with incredible speed and slammed into Nerine, hurling her twice as far away as they had originally been. Nerine hit the ground and rolled up to her knees, her vision blurred, but as Primula rushed forth again the Sage's Staff lit up and Nerine felt its power rush through her.  
"Ultima Strike: Dante's Typhoon!" she shouted, and Primula was plucked off the ground by a towering funnel of water. As razor sharp currents sliced through Primula's armor the temperature rapidly increased, burning off several pounds of metal, and once the temperature went too far and the water evaporated Primula plummeted and crashed into the ground. The party was reunited and steeled themselves for the next round, but when Primula slowly got up, the outermost layer of her armor completely decimated, and she attempted Empty Roar only for Void energy to pop and sputter around her foes.  
"We've almost got her," Asa said, readying her Wind Spellblade. The Warriors of Light ran at Primula, but at the last second she spun around and used her tail to down them.  
"**The power of the Void shall not be defeated!"** she bellowed, and eight orbs of light flew out of her wings, homed in on the Warriors of Light, and unleashed beams of pure energy to slice through their health. Kaede looked about as Primula began to gather energy—the others were badly injured, and they wouldn't be up in time to stop their enemy.  
"**It's time for your existence to disappear,"** Primula said.  
Kaede got to her feet and walked towards Primula, who glared and stooped down to catch Kaede in her jaws…but her fangs passed right through Kaede, who lifted her shimmering Assassin Daggers and said, "Ultima Strike: Absolute Assassination."  
A pillar of earth rose up beneath Primula, forcing her high into the air, and then several boulders materialized and knocked her around before the pillar resumed its ascent and threw her even higher, where Kaede appeared behind her, crossed her arms, and vanished, reappearing in front of Primula with her blades out, and a moment later two horrible gashes appeared down the dragon's body and neck. Kaede teleported down to the ground and Primula fell, hitting the ground with such force that her remaining limbs broke off, and then she began to glow and the party backed away. Omega and Shinryu separated from Primula, who knelt on the ground breathing heavily, and then they suddenly vanished and the Rift slowly faded away, depositing Primula and the Warriors of Light back in the throne room.  
"…You've lost, Primula," Asa said.  
Tears fell from the young queen's eyes, and she mumbled, "I failed…now I'll never get home…never…"  
She hung her head as she sobbed, and the Warriors of Light watched in silence, unsure what to say. Kaede noticed Primula's cat lying on the floor, and after a moment of thought she picked it up, walked over to the Bearer of Void, and knelt down, handing her the stuffed animal. "Gomen nasai…Rimu-chan," Kaede whispered.  
Primula took the cat, hugged it, and looked Kaede straight in the eye, saying, "Kaede…oneechan…"  
The Crystal of Void fell from Primula's neck and shattered on the ground, and then Primula herself slowly faded away into nothingness.


	23. Epilogue

Epilogue

Kaede walked outside and stretched, looked up at sky and smiling. It had now been a month since they defeated Primula and the Yggdrasil army, and things were finally back to normal…sort of. Yggdrasil had been completely destroyed, but some of the townspeople seemed innocent and were taken to other nearby towns and kingdoms, and Ama and Asa had taken one last trip back to se what they could find in the ruins. Sia, Nerine, and Daisy had taken the airship and flown to the ruins where Kikyou had been fought, and after Daisy translated the spell Nerine cast it and Kikyou and Lycoris were given their own bodies again. Everyone had returned to their hometown to spread the news of victory, and since Sakura's old house was no longer intact she had moved in with Kaede and was still living there. Peace had remained for so long, so the Warriors of Light finally relaxed and decided it was time to get back together and have a celebration of sorts.  
Sakura came up behind Kaede and said, "You ready?"  
"Of course," Kaede said. "I've been looking forward to seeing them again."  
They departed and headed to town hall, entering to find the other Warriors of Light, Rin, the elders, the Kings, Ruri, Kikyou, and Lycoris, and Asa greeted, "Hello! What took you so long?"  
"Sorry—I overslept," Sakura said. "But we're here now. What'd we miss?"  
While they conversed Daisy smiled and looked off, putting a hand in her pocket and finding something. Surprised, she withdrew the item and examined it, and Kikyou said, "Come on, Daisy-chan, join in the party! Ah…what's that?"  
"I stole it from Dracomega Primula," Daisy said, handing it over. "I forgot I brought it with me." Kikyou took the object—it was flat, circular, and made of metal, and on one side it had an image of a gateway to the Void with a white letter 'Y' in Old English style.  
"This symbol was all over the castle," Kikyou said. "It must be the Yggdrasil emblem."  
"Whatever it is, it's kind of useless," Daisy said. "Just a souvenir, I guess."  
Later they gathered together and distributed the sake, and Asa raised her glass and said, "Well it wasn't easy, but we made it through. It wasn't just us who save the world—each one of you helped us, and we had a lot of help from people who can't be with us today, like Gilgamesh. Thanks to everyone, our world is safe, we've been reunited with old friends, and if anything else does come to threaten the world we can just kick its ass. So here's to peace, the crystals, and everyone all over the world!"  
They raised their glasses and drank, and later when it was all over and the gods and demons had left for their own worlds, Kaede and Sakura returned home and sat down in the living room to relax. "That was nice," Sakura said, and then her eyes wandered over to the mantelpiece. Primula's stuffed cat sat there, and Sakura asked, "Why have you kept that all this time?"  
"…I don't think Primula was truly evil," Kaede said. "I know she tried to destroy the world, but…I just can't believe she was all bad. I have this feeling…"  
"...She did seem a little remorseful right before she started blasting us with Ultima," Sakura said. "But because of the whole brainwashing thing, I'm not exactly sympathetic."  
"I know—I haven't forgiven her for a lot of what she's done," Kaede said. "But at the same time I truly believe she felt like she didn't have a choice…do you think the Void took control of her?"  
"I suppose it's possible," Sakura said. "There's a lot we don't know about Primula—her past, her motives, her goals…but why dwell on the uncertainty?"  
Kaede shook her head and said, "That's not why I kept the cat. I kept it because it reminds me of what she was like when she traveled with us…the gentle, sweet girl she may have originally been. It gives me hope that maybe instead of an evil mastermind, she was just confused and manipulated."  
Sakura paused for a moment, but then she hugged Kaede and said, "Whatever makes you happy. I'm just glad to be back with you and everyone else."  
"So am I," Kaede said. "It was a horrible ordeal, and I wish a few things were different…but I wouldn't dream of complaining. After all these years, it feels like we've finally reached a happy ending."

**THE END**

_Shuffle! and all related material belong to Navel_

_Final Fantasy and all related material belong to Square-Enix_

_Special thanks to for hosting this story_

_A big 'thank you' to any readers out there_

A new dungeon has appeared on the eastern continent!


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